Requiem for a Demon
by Eph
Summary: She had a chance at something tangible. The lesson she learns from her mistakes will leave her broken. Is there anyway she can end her suffering? Sequel to 'Here we go Again'.
1. When Spirits Break

**Disclaimer: 20th Century Fox still owns Predator, not I. On a sidenote I know that if they don't hurry up and come out with another Predator movie I'm going to send them a rude letter complete with a sketch of my fist hitting my own face.**

**I also don't own the rights to any of the video games mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: **_Here we are, same story, new exciting plot! Wee. _

I had been such a fool. He had done so much for me. He had accepted me for who and what I was. Well. . .maybe not really who I was. . .but no one on Earth would have understood the fact that I was not meant to walk among them. I belonged to a different species. Something no one has ever seen before. Some mutated abomination. He didn't reject me for that like they would have. Our falling out was because of my accursed personality. That was my downfall and the beginning of the end.

The end came so soon that there wasn't really a noticable beginning. The torture of knowing that something could have been more than it turned out to be is painful. Knowing that I destroyed what I believed in. I was the cause of the downfall. I fucked everything up. I can't even reach out to him. I can't tell him that I'm sorry, that I was wrong. I was afraid of what was happening to me. Animals will bite their masters if in a frenzy. I'm just a simple animal and I lashed out at the only friend I had left. Ya'uta. You were my reality, my world, my reason for fighting to survive.

I couldn't put my contemptible nature aside for one minute to just try and see things from his point of view. To try and understand why he was doing what he was doing. Of course I can grasp it now that it's too late. Now that all of it has been tossed into Oblivion. He loved me and didn't want to leave me to rot on that pathetic planet with those detestable humans.

He wanted something more for me. A real life. A life where I could learn to control my immense powers, to use my skills for something other than avoiding a broken bone from an accidental fall. I could have learned the ways of his kind. Could have become a hunter, a warrior. A real one, not just play one in Onimusha or Elder Scrolls.

He could have helped me.

I hate when I know it's too late for something. I hate when the moment has fleeted and we are only left with the possibilities of what something could have been. I feel like screaming as I fell deeper into the hell that is my mind. There was no need for outside interference. No need for punishment from anyone else. I would slowly tear myself apart. I would destroy every shred of myself from the inside until I was just a hollow shell. The curse of my mind is that it is a vast and treacherous place. I will be lost from the start and wander helplessly until the time that even my own mind rejected me.

An endless abyss filled with pain and horror that I've never known. That's the only thing that awaits me now.

Ya'uta. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't try for us. Ya'uta. . .

My eyes fluttered open and I felt the hot tears dripping down my cheeks as I reached out for something that wasn't there. I was taken aback. The last thing I remember was the robed menace leering over me. . .I was dying. . .I think. I sat up and looked around. The room wasn't empty. He's still in here.

"Why did you stop?"

"You wouldn't understand."

I decided to be wreckless and walked over to the corner.

"Why wouldn't I understand?"

"Creatures like you don't feel."

"My eyes are open now. I feel everything! All the agony of my mistakes is rending me!"

"Lies. You don't think you make mistakes."

"Every decision I made was a fucking mistake. Everything I said to him was wrong. All the pain I caused him was wrong!"

"Him?"

"Yes."

"Who is this you speak of?"

I put my hands to my face and took a breath between tears.

"The greatest creature I ever knew. The only person I ever loved. This so called 'traitor'. If you consider someone that follows their heart a traitor, then I suppose that's what he is. I hope he is never cursed with my presence again. He doesn't deserve such torment. He needs to be idolized."

"What is the name of this Yautja?"

"His name is Ya'uta."

I heard him take in a breath.

"Ya'uta. . ."

His voice was shaky. Was this a relative of my lost Ya'uta? Was he here because of the way I disgraced his brother?

"I know for a Yautja honor is like air, it's a necessity. He was the most honorable Yautja I ever met."

"Do you mean all these things you say or are you trying to convince me not to kill you?"

"I am telling you these things because they are the last feelings of a doomed soul. I wish for you to kill me. I want to suffer in the void of my own mind. I deserve nothing less than to be utterly ruined."

He slowly turned around and wrapped his hand around my neck. I didn't protest, nor did I flinch. He pulled back the hood of the robe and my breath caught in my throat, but not because he was restricting my airway. The trickle of tears became a flood as I reached my hand to his face.

I managed to squeak out one word.

"Ya'uta?"

I recognized those eyes. The calm in them. The rationality was still present. The kindness was gone. I knew that was my fault. His spirit was broken as well as his body. The scars from the wounds I had inflicted on him during our last meeting marred his face. He stared at me for a moment before a tear trickled down his cheek onto one of his mandibles. I couldn't get anymore words out. I was silenced by the pain I saw troubling his countenance. No words could brighten his eyes. I knew that.

He released his grip on my throat and turned away from me. I fell to my knees. The weight of my woe was too much even for the demon that I am. I collapsed to the floor completely. He left the room. He left me there to wallow in self loathing. It is only fair.

I watched as the ship departed the dock. Ya'uta and I didn't see each other after that night in that room. I wish he had killed me. I shouldn't be alive after the suffering I put him through. His love for me was more genuine than anything, I had ignored it and hurt him in the worst way.

Sponge Guy sat sentinal on my shoulder. When I averted my eyes from the ship he did the same.

"I don't know where we're going to end up Sponge Guy."

He chortled a little to let me know that he was with me no matter what. I walked into the city with no idea what was to become of us.


	2. New Friends

Ten years had gone by. After a decade of wandering around looking for a place to call home I was still searching. By now I've given up. I just rome the verse aimlessly. When I run into trouble I dispatch the antagonists and call it a day. I considered becoming a mercenary, but that's what most people do. I'm not most people and I don't want to be.

"Hey Naui, I'm getting a reading from that wreckage over there."

Enter Fahu. A Dagon I picked up on the outskirts of the Mantar galaxy. Dagons are quite interesting beings if you get to know them. Picture a man about 6'10 inches completely muscle bound. Now imagine on that same man long black hair with the texture of cornsilk, long red claws on his hands and feet. Five finger and toes, but each with an extra joint. Fahu has white eyes. Something that was considered a curse by his people since they have black eyes. His skin is white as well and a little bit like snakeskin, however, the shape of his face resembles a cat, slightly.

"What kind of a reading?"

"I think it's the life support."

One if the things that made me decide to keep him was probably his voice. It has a deep gravelly pitch. When he gets angry it booms nicely.

"Life support? That thing looks ancient."

"Indeed, but if a sufficient supply of power was transferred to the life support system, then it could run almost indeffinitely."

He's also quite smart. I realized that having a friend out here would have its benefits. If I had someone to talk to I wouldn't go space crazy and have the help I sometimes needed. Sponge Guy is still my best friend, but he isn't much of a fighter. Dagons are born fighters, so there is another benefit of keeping him around.

"Well, let's investigate then."

"Are you sure that's wise? We don't know what's in there."

"Precisely. And we wont know unless we look."

He grinned and shook his head.

"You're wreckless for such a small creature."

"I may be small, but I can take you out. Or have you forgotten?"

"I remember. I have scars from your last 'lesson'."

I smiled as I walked closer to the wrecked ship. We are what the Imperium considers 'Pirates'. We find crashed ships and take what we can find. The imperium doesn't pay us much mind since we are kind of the clean up crew. Less for them to deal with when we are done.

We boarded the ship to look for any survivors.

"Stay here and see if there is anything of use. When you're done here head to the storage area."

"What are you going to do?"

"See if anyone is taking advantage of the life support."

He nodded and I headed down the corridor that led to the bunks. Sponge Guy was on my shoulder where he belonged. I went into the first room and saw nothing that indicated someone was staying in there. There were a few books on the nightstand and an amulet hanging from a tac on the wall. I walked up to it for a closer inspection. It had a strange symbol on it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about it though. My senses didn't detect any sort of aura. I had come across a few things that had auras. They had proven to be more trouble than they were worth. This one might fetch a little coin though and not be any trouble at all. I put it in my pocket and headed across the hall to the next room.

This room was a mess, but no signs that the slob was still around. I didn't even bother looking for anything in there. I walked into the third room and knew right away that someone had been in it recently. In fact, someone was still in here, but trying to hide in the closet. I went about my duties letting them think that they were concealed from my highly adapted senses. Even Sponge Guy knew they were there. I think it's a female. Somewhat young, human, and scared. I took everything that looked like it would be of value and left the room.

I found Fahu in the storage bay. He had found a few things as well.

"Anything of use?"

"Yes. I salvaged what I could from the engine room as well."

"Good. Let's get going then, shall we?"

"All right."

We had just stepped off the ship when the girl decided she would attack. She went straight for me. I stepped to the side and she fell on her face. Fahu looked at her with disgust.

"What is that?"

"It's a human female."

"I see. Not very aesthetically pleasing."

"Not really."

"I'm glad you don't look like that anymore."

"I concur."

I had indeed gone through a transformation. I had shed my human skin and grown a nice coat of fur. My ears had changed position on my head and grew out pointed with tufts at the end. My teeth were more formidable since they were fangs and I had a nice set of claws. I now resembled my favorite earth animal. The Lynx. I had always loved the markings on their faces not to mention the fact that they were a feline. The only downside was that now I couldn't wear shoes. My paws wouldn't allow them. I was always walking around barefoot now, but that just meant I could walk silently.

"I'm going to kill you!"

The girl was up again. She had a pearing knife in her hand and was coming at me. She swiped and I easily grabbed her wrist and twisted it, bringing her to a kneeling position. She was very weak, probably from starvation, and couldn't protest with any real force.

"Why would you even try?"

"You're monsters!"

"Monsters?"

"You're not human!"

"You retard. Humans are pretty much extinct now."

"What?"

She stopped squirming and I let her wrist go. Her hands dropped to her sides and she looked totally shocked. I figured this would be as good a time as any to get back to our ship and go cash in on our finds.

"Wait! What do you mean humans are extinct?"

I shook my head and sighed.

"I said 'pretty much'. Not totally. You humans have horrid hearing."

"How did it happen?"

"They pissed off everyone. Ambassadors from other planets visited to congratulate them on finding space travel and the fucking human scum attacked them. They captured them and started running experiments on them. The other planets got angry and attacked earth with much superior fire power. The few humans that survived were either sold into slavery or managed to run away. No one knows or cares what happened to them."

She just stared at me. I know she believes me. I turned away and walked to our ship which was a few yards away in a clearing. I sat in the seat and powered up the ship. Fahu didn't even ask about the human. Most others would inquire if we should help her. I like Fahu because he doesn't have that sentimental side.

"Where to now?"

"We need to find Borgos so we can make a little money."

"Right."

It was a long flight to Meritos. I decided to take a cat nap.

When I woke up the ship was shaking.

"What's going on Fahu?"

"We are being pulled into a space colony."

"Fuck. I didn't want any interuptions."

Our ship was pulled in and secured. Shit. This isn't going to be fun. I can tell already. I looked at Fahu and he had the same dejected look on his face. A face appeared on the communications screen. A smug round pokmarked face.

"Ew."

"This is captain Jack Gerold of the space colony 'Omega seven'. You will be disarmed before stepping foot onto our colony. If you cooperate, you will live."

I chuckled. He is really an idiot. Something to his left caught his attention.

"What? What do you mean you can't get the door open? Use the scrambler."

"Sir, we are."

He looked at me again.

"I command you to open the door."

"Command this."

I saluted him int he way I salute everyone that gets on my bad side which was a little more difficult now that I had paws instead of hands. I figured he would still understand it if I raised my middle finger to him."

"How dare you!"

I looked at Fahu and saw that he was laughing. I smiled and looked back at the screen.

"Look, shitfuck, we aren't coming out."

"Then We'll just have to fry your ship."

"Fry my ship? You think that will work?"

I heard a loud boom and the shock shield activated itself.

"Damnit!"

Fahu and I were laughing now. This ship is indestructible. Anything that they can throw at us, the ship can take. I'm not worried about it.

The screen went blank and I felt another blast. After 4 or 5 of them they seemed to give up on that approach. I heard banging at the door.

"Now they knock? That's a little backwards."

"Why not let our guests in? We shouldn't be rude."

I nodded at Fahu. He was thinking the same thing I was. We hadn't been in a good fight for a while and our bodies were itching for it. I opened the door and several armed men ran in and pointed their guns at us. We went quietly for now. I want to remove the captains face. Anyone with two first names shouldn't be so arrogant. Anyone that's human shouldn't be arrogant either. We were led through a maze of corridors. We came to a large door that was made out of solid gold and trimmed with gold as well.

"I would sue whoever decorated this for pain and suffering."

"Don't forget mental anguish."

"Good point Fahu."

The door opened and I saw the man that had appeared on the screen sitting behind a solid gold desk.

"Someone needs to learn a lesson in tasteful decoration."

"Indeed."

"Do you know the penalty for resisting me?"

"Having to look at your face?"

He slammed his hand down on his desk and his face twisted up in anger.

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

"The village idiot?"

He motioned to one of the guards and I felt a sting in my neck. I fell to the ground and blacked out.


	3. Things That Go Boom

When unconscious, the mind can be a fearful opponent. The maze of the subconscious can be treacherous. I've found myself lost there many times. I haven't been tranquilized in a long time, but I remember the feeling now. It makes reality feel like a dream and your head feel like a joke. One of those jokes that aren't actually funny to anyone other than the person telling it. That has always bothered me.

I heard Ya'uta's voice loud and clear asking me what a video game was. To think that I had let my mind get so clouded by that cyber world that I forgot about the existence of aliens. Something I knew about for most of my life. Not because I had seen them or anything, but because I knew at an early age that if the Earth was the only habitable planet in the universe, someone had gotten the game of life messed up. Ya'uta had proven beyond all doubt that there were aliens out there, that we weren't alone. I suppose I had gotten around to that first come to think of it. I had grown up on earth, but I wasn't human. The only word I can think to describe me is a demon. I seem to be immortal, impervious to pain, I can change forms. Maybe someday I'll give enough of a damn to attempt to find out what I really am.

I looked at Ya'uta and laughed. He was trying to fend off Jubei. That cat was never afraid of anything.

"What is this creature doing?"

"Your hair is provoking him."

"Why?"

"Anything that looks snake like and moves does that."

I frowned. This never actually occured. Why do I still want things to go differently? I can't change the past. If I could, however, I would. I wouldn't cause so much trouble for Ya'uta.

I opened my eyes and looked right at Fahu.

"Got you as well, did they?"

"Yeah. That's a powerful tranquilizer."

"Well, what's the damage?"

"We're in a cage. There are guards outside the door. We have about an hour before they come in and bloody us up."

"Or so they think, right?"

"Yeah. In reality they have an hour to live."

"I like that time frame. Let's make that our time frame. We'll steal it from them. Gives us more time to cause mayhem and still get away from here before reinforcements can arrive."

Fahu nodded his acquiesence and I looked at Sponge Guy.

"Would you do the honors of getting us out of here?"

He garumped and trotted across the floor to the lock. He disengaged it and I lifted him back onto my shoulder.

"Brilliant."

I pushed open the door and headed to the shelves that were in the back of the room. Fahu followed me seeming to know my plan of action. I climbed the shelves and into the ventilation I went. I turned and looked down at Fahu.

"Remember we only have an hour. Kill who you want, but make sure you're at the ship before I leave. I wont hesitate to leave you behind if you're late."

"Really now?"

"I abhor tardiness."

He laughed and replaced the vent cover. While he rampages I'm going to find that Jack guy and teach him what happens when he messes with the wrong demon. I followed the scent of retardedness and soon found his office. The alarm sounded and I smiled. Sounded like Fahu was having fun. I watched as the fat man barred his door and then ran back to his desk. He picked up a communication device and yelled into it.

"What is going on?"

"The prisoners have escaped! The big white one is killing everyone!"

"What about the female?"

"We haven't seen her yet. The men think she can make herself invisible."

I raised an eyebrow. I wonder if I could become invisible. I don't really have time to figure that out right now.

"I want all soldiers positioned outside my office. You have to keep them from getting in here!"

I heard an anguished scream come through the radio. I laughed and punched the vent cover off. I dropped down on top of his desk in front of him. He stumbled backwards into his chair. I leapt on him. I jammed my thumb claws into his shoulders and my other claws into the chair to act as an anchor. He cried out in pain.

"Hello jackass."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"What do you think?"

"Are your going to kill me?"

"Yep. But before that I'm going to thank you for all the things I and my friend are going to steal from you. It should keep us flying for a long time. All this gold should get a little bit of money."

"I. . ."

I decided not to give him the courtesy of speaking his last words. I know that humans love to yammer on before they die to try and seem a little smarter before they die, or tell their killer that they wont get away with it or whatever. A lot of times the people I kill don't know they are dying until it's too late.

I used my claws to tear through his neck and his spine, completely sevoring it from his shoulders. It tumbled to the floor and I grinned. Killing seems to make me more happy than sleeping does. I jumped backwards over his desk and went to the door. I unbarred it and it opened.

"Thank god captain, we can't hold them off much longer!"

The unsuspecting moron turned and looked at me. His eyes grew wide and he attempted to turn his gun to me. I tore his stomach out with my claws before he had fully turned. Captain, pah. He's a corpse now. He can't save anyone.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost that time. I headed towards the docking bay to get my ship back. If Fahu isn't there when arrive. . .I'll just have to wait. I turned a corner and ran smack into a man with a really huge gun. I flung myself into the wall to avoid the shot. Luckily for me, and I mean that very sarcastically, it was a grenade launcher. It took off the majority of the skin on my left side. I didn't have to take my revenge on the man, he was killed by the blast.

Before I stood up I picked up the grenage launcher. I looked down at my feet and watched the blood start to pool around me. That kept my attention for a few minutes. That's a lot of blood. Strike one for me. I moseyed slowly down the hall, not because I was in a whole lot of pain, but because I didn't want to run into anymore people with grenade launchers and the like. My side was stinging a bit and getting worse by the minute. I heard footsteps running towards me so I lifted up the grenade launcher and got ready to fire. Three men came running around the corner looking like they were headed somewhere important. When they saw me I can only imagine what went throught their minds. The first second was probably an 'oh shit a grenade launcher', the next second could have been 'that's a big cat pointing a grenade launcher at me', and the last second, well, that's when I fired.

The explosion shook the floor. More men came around the corner and I tried to fire the launcher again. Nothing happened.

"Only two grenades? Piece of shit!"

I threw the gun at them and took out two of them. I rolled under the bullets they fired at me. When I was close enough and while on my back I kicked my feet up and eviscerated two more of them. I rolled over onto my paws and tackled the last man. He started screaming like a woman. It took a lot of concentration not to start laughing at him. I broke his neck and let his head drop. I felt a sting in my neck and grabbed at it. I took the tranquilizer dart out of my neck and turned to scowl at the person that had shot it at me. It's nice that my body becomes immubne to things so quickly. It's handy in these situations.

When I didn't go down she seemed to understand that her life was in jeapordy. I slowly stalked towards her, giving her a chance to run to safety. I prefer not to kill human females. I don't have a sisterly feeling towards them or anything, it's just that Ya'uta drilled it into my head that they weren't good prey since they were so weak. Funny that he wanted to fight me. I guess that just goes to show that he knew I wasn't human before I did. Good thinking Ya'uta.

The woman bolted for a door. She slammed it and barred it from the inside. Just to scare her I smashed my face against the glass, roared, and snapped my jaws at her. After a few seconds of these particular theatrics I decided to get to my ship. Time was running out. I really don't want to be late. Fahu wouldn't let me forget it if I was. I double timed it towards my escape. I got into the control room and released the magnetic locks that were holding my poor ship hostage. I felt a hand on my shoulder and swung around and roared. Fahu just stood there with no expression on his face. He's more than used to my terror tactics.

"Oh, hi."

"Are we ready?"

"Uh huh."

"Good."

We walked out of the control room and boarded the ship.

Once we were in deep space again I decided it would be all right to black out.


	4. Cats at Play

I didn't feel like opening my eyes for a long time. Fahu seemed to figure that I just didn't feel like getting up, so he coerced me into it by taking hold of my foot and pulling me out of my bunk. I tumbled to the floor and opened one eye.

"I never knew someone could glare with only one eye at a time."

I growled at him for a moment.

"Why did you do that? I'm injured you know. Injured people need to rest."

"You've been resting for three days and you aren't injured anymore."

"Oh."

I wrapped the blanket around me again and closed my eye. He lifted me up by the scruff of my neck and I, of course, curled in on myself. My blanket fell away from me and I growled.

"Put me down, I'm naked."

"You always are. You're covered in fur, you don't need clothes, remember?"

I sighed as he set me down on my haunches and returned to whatever he had been doing before his malicious streak had interupted him. What a cruel horrible person.

"Where are we anyway?"

"About an hour from Meritos. I called ahead to Borgos to let him know we were coming."

"Was he in a good mood?"

"Yep."

"Shit."

"I know."

"I hate it when he's in a good mood. That always means he has a job for us and the jobs he gives us are so. . .almost pointless."

I sat in my chair and watched the planet of Meritos get bigger and bigger. I took over control as we entered atmo. When we landed Borgos' men were waiting for us. I grabbed the duffle bag I had put all the salable items in. Fahu grabbed his and we walked off the ship and set foot on Meritos. I never got the hang of this place. It's like a giant garden. So many flowers, so many things that make me sneeze.

We followed Borgos' men down the marble pathway that was bordered on either side by a small man-made stream to a large building that was surrounded by Greek style marble pillars. Borgos was sitting at his desk in the pavillion. He looked up and smiled at us. Oh no. Our time is limited. Pretty soon we're going to be faced with a task befitting a retard.

"I see you have some things to trade."

"Uh huh."

I started taking things out of the bag and setting them on his desk. After doing business with him for 5 years I know what he will pay well for and what he wont. Everything seemed to be catching his eye all at once.

"My word, so many shiny things."

I sat down and watched as Fahu emptied the contents of his bag onto the desk as well. He sat down in the other chair and we waited for the verdict. It took about ten minutes of him fiddling and rolling things around.

"I'll give you 500,000 for this."

Fahu and I looked at each other. He really is in a good mood. Normally he would only give us 300,000. It really isn't much, but it's a lot better than any other fence in this galaxy. The others will rip you off blind at gunpoint. That's why I choose to take my business to Borgos. He's generous for someone that pays criminals.

"I don't suppose I could talk you into a little more?"

"I would be shocked if you didn't ask, but I'm afraid my mind is made up."

I shrugged.

"Ok. 500,000 it is."

"Good."

He motioned for one of his men to go get our money. Craptastic. Here it comes. The time to be utterly disappointed by our mission.

"I was thinking you could do me a little favor since I'm being so generous."

"What did you have in mind?"

I did my best to cover up the disdain in my voice. I looked at Fahu and he reassured me that I had done well masking it.

"There is a little problem I'm having with one of my clients. He was supposed to deliver an item to me, but seems to have disappeared. If you could retrieve it for me, I would be most grateful and perhaps give you a little reward."

"How much are we talking?"

I hated this part. Doing business with Borgos is good. I don't want to say no and lose his business, but he doesn't seem to understand that pocket change isn't much of a reward.

"One million."

My jaw dropped. That must be a really important item.

"If you're willing to pay that much for it, it must be worth a lot. How do you know when we find it we wont take off with it like he did?"

"Because you are a good business person. You wouldn't disrespect me like that."

"Damn. You know me too well."

I sneezed a few times. Borgos laughed and took a puff off his cigar. I looked at Fahu and he nodded. I suppose this would be worth it after all. A million could keep my ship fueled and pay for maintenance for quite a long while.

"All right. Who is this guy and how do we find him?"

"His name is Philus Mankuri. He was last seen in a bar on Gadugos. Ask around the town. He might have let some information slip. He doesn't hold his liquor well."

"How are we supposed to deal with him when we track him down?"

"However you want to."

I grinned at Fahu. That means I can torture him all I want to. Not necessarily because he betrayed Borgos, that's fine and dandy, but because I like hurting things that can beg for mercy. Borgos' man handed me a briefcase and Fahu and I stood up to take our leave of this smelly planet. A planet of flowery doom.

It was a short cruise to Gadugos. We found landed in the town of Serenity and hiked to the bar. It was seriously a hike. All uphill. It would be easy to lose footing for someone that doesn't have claws to anchor themselves to the ground. Once inside we sat down at the bar and looked around. I can always spot regulars. The people that practically live in a place of business. I figured it would be a good idea to talk to the bartender before questioning others. Bartenders always notice more than they let on.

"You two aren't from around here."

"We aren't."

He looked at Fahu.

"Oh well, what can I get you?"

"I'll have a rum blaster."

He looked at me.

"I'll have a Dimer and I would really appreciate anything you can tell me about Philus Mankuri."

The bartender looked at me disapprovingly. Most of the bar had gone silent. I turned my attention to the public. They were looking at me over pints and behind untrusting faces. I looked back at the bartender.

"What do you want with him?"

"He has something that we want."

"Oh? I'm afraid you aren't going to be getting much information out of us."

"Uh huh. So he was here, he drank too much, let his tongue run rampant, then when he realized what he had done he bribed you to keep quiet incase anyone came looking for him. I see."

"You know too much."

"I know just enough. Look, I know his type. He probably hasn't even given you the supposed money yet. He most likely told you that this item he had would fetch a pretty penny and he would come back and pay you."

"We aren't stupid. We took something as collateral."

"Big word for a small town bartender."

I put my hand on Fahu's shoulder. He has a lot less patience than I do and a lot more mass. Luckily he considers me the boss since I own the ship he lives on and I can kick his ass.

"You don't want to start trouble here."

"We actually really like trouble. It gets the endorphines flowing and makes us feel happy and jolly. That's besides the point though. Anything that he left you for collateral is worthless to him. I mean, come on, he abandoned his wife and children just so he could skip out on his boss and make a few bucks. He's already betrayed the most important people in his life, I doubt lying to a bunch of settlers on a planet like this wouldn't bother him in the least."

He seemed to think about this for a moment or two. Apparently they were a little stupid. They didn't look at the big picture. He put his hands down on the bar and scowled at me. Someone behind me caught my attention and I turned around. A tall humanoid with big muscles and a shiny bald head was standing there. He had quite the impressive collection of weapons strapped to his person and I could tell he knew how to use them. That didn't impress me. Obviously he needed lots of weapons because he was useless at fighting without them. It's the people that don't carry weapons that you have to worry about. People like Fahu and I.

"You seem like you're looking for a fight."

I looked at Fahu.

"He's observant."

Fahu nodded and I looked up at the man again.

"I am looking for a fight, but not here."

"Why not? You afraid we would beat you?"

"No. It's just that I have permission to torture and kill Philus, and I rarely have permission to do that. I'm getting paid to retrieve the item he has, so it's close to being paid for killing him. Assassination, you know? It excites me."

He looked into my eyes and I noticed he didn't like what he saw there. I wasn't afraid of him and I wasn't acting tough. I don't act, I just do what I feel like. He took a step back and looked over his shoulder at the others in the bar. He was losing his motivation to protect the fugitive, Philus. The bartender cleared his throat to break the tention and maybe to give the thug a moment to recuperate after getting spooked by whatever he saw behind my eyes.

"What if we don't tell you?"

"Well, scenario one, we leave to go on a search for this man, with no leads on where to look. That's quite a tiring thought, I don't like it. Or scenario two, which I think is my favorite, we start taking pieces out of people until someone talks, once we have the information we leave, but not before making sure everyone that saw our faces is a cadaver."

I heard uncomfortable muttering. I was getting somewhere with these tactics, but it was getting tiring and I am really not much of a talker anymore. I was about to just start tearing people apart when the man behind me came closer. I looked at him again. All this back and forth is annoying me.

"How would you do that? Neither one of you are armed. We all have weapons."

"That's why I feel sorry for you."

"What do you mean?"

"People that carry weapons need them to feel secure. Without their weapons they have no spine. My friend and I are very sure about ourselves, we know we don't need a weapon to slaughter a bar full of armed people. We're just that good."

"He's going to Heichuru. He said something about an abandoned temple."

I scrutinized him for a moment. I don't think he's used to being afraid of anything, yet here we are, me at my small stature and him armed to the teeth, yet shaking in his boots. I looked at Fahu.

"Well my friend, I am sad to say that we wont be mauling anyone here."

"That's too bad."

"I know. I was looking forward to some bloodshed too."

We stood up and I put some money on the bar. The bartender looked at it like he didn't know what it was.

"For the drinks."

He nodded and we left the bar. Fahu walked out the door, but before I did, I turned back around.

"If we don't find anything on Heichuru. . .we will return to kill all of you and most likely your families as well. We don't like being misled."


	5. Hookers and Gin

On the ship again and on our way to Heichuru. This would be interesting if it turned out to be a dead end. A part of me was hoping it would be so I could go back and show those hookers a real nightmare. Fahu was sitting in the copilot chair reading a book. He liked to immerse himself in books when we're in space. He says it keeps him anchored to the world. Sure Fahu, whatever you say. All I have to do to anchor myself to the world is feel the scar on my stomach where I was disected. That brings reality back really fast.

Those freaking Yautja and their. . .Yautja-ness. I thought humans were bad about doing experiments on things they don't understand. I think they caught that disease from the Yautja back in the days of the first pyramids. While I was captive in their world I did do some reading.

The Yautja had found Earth a very long time ago and taught the humans a few things like how to build pyramids and how to worship things. Nothing ever mentioned this, but I have a feeling the Yautja taught humans how to be insufferable douche kits. All those weird rules and harsh punishments. Sacrifices, hunting, rites of passage. Humans had steered away from that in the last few hundred years, but that's because the Yautja stopped visiting in droves. Now they go there for a short hunt and attempt to not be seen. Great, good, groovy, whatever.

We landed on Heichuru and I donned my cold weather cloak. I know I have fur, but sometimes it just isn't enough. I pulled the hood up over my head and pulled my ears through the holes I had cut specifically for them. Fahu walked out a moment later wearing his coat.

"I hate snow planets."

"Me too."

"Don't you resemble an animal that lives in a snowy environment. The Lynx is designed for cold weather."

"I know, but I'm not totally a Lynx. I don't even know what I am. I could be part lizard for all I know."

He shook his head and sighed.

"You're a dork."

"I know."

We trekked throught the sparse trees a little ways until we came upon the entrance to a temple.

"Well, this place looks abandoned."

"Looks like it's been that way for quite some time."

"Yep. Let's go inside and see if there is any sign of this dumbass."

The entrance tunnel led underground. I never liked being under several tons of stone that had fallen into disarray. Makes me feel a little claustrophobic.

"Do you have the feeling that all this could cave in on our heads any moment now?"

I laughed.

"It's funny you should mention that, I. . ."

I heard a scuffling sound ahead of us and stopped walking. Fahu and I stood there listening for another sound. I motioned for us to keep walking. Neither one of us said anything and I tried to hear out footsteps, but I couldn't. I like being naturally stealthy. It's helpful at times. We entered a large room which branched out into about 20 different tunnels. There was a boot mark in the dust. I followed the trail with my eyes and saw that it led down a tunnel to our left. It was a shorter tunnel than all the others seemed to be.

I saw movement in the room ahead and ducked down. Fahu and I concealed ourselves behind a support pillar. I tuned my ears to the noises that were coming from the room ahead. It sounded like someone was pacing and muttering quietly to themselves. I peered around the pillar and saw a man walking back and forth in front of a large statue of some god I didn't know. I don't have time to learn and remember all the idols different races worship and pray to. There are billions after all.

I saw something on the alter in front of the statue. That must be the item we are here to retrieve. I slowly stood up and stalked towards the man. He was way too focused to notice me. I got close enough to hear what he was saying.

"Why isn't it working? I swear they said this was the place, this alter. God damnit. Fucking fuck! Shit!"

I can tell he likes expletives. It could just be that he doesn't have a large enough vocabulary to properly express himself without them. I've known many people like that. I pretended to be a person like that. I got close enough to grab the man by the throat but before I could a light shot out of a gem in the forehead of the statue and paralyzed me. The man wheeled around and looked at me.

"Of course! The sacrifice! How could I forget? The statue requires a sacrifice."

Sacrifice? After careful consideration I came to the conclusion I wasn't pleased with the thought of becoming a sacrifice to a statue. Especially since I didn't know what I was being sacrificed for. Maybe if I knew and approved of the reason then I wouldnt be so aggitated about it. Then again, maybe not. However, I have a feeling a mortal sacrifice is needed for this to work so I should be fine. I had a very bad thought just then. What if Fahu gets the bright idea to try and save me? He damn well better not.

Of course just then that's when I saw Fahu throw his fist at the man standing there gawking at me. I tried to yell at him to piss off and save himself, but I was really stuck. I wanted to scream as he threw his body at me and knocked me out of the path of the light beam. I tumbled to the ground and watched as Fahu was caught in the weird voodoo, or whatever it was, that the statue was doing. I was on my feet in a second, but Fahu didn't have a second. He had a look of serenity on his face as he imploded. I stopped dead in my tracks, but not so dead as Fahu. I fell to my knees right in front of the spot where he had been. There was nothing left of him. I heard a groan to my left and slowly turned my head to look at Philus.

I've never reached this magnitude of anger in my life. He was terrified of the look on my face and with good reason. I wasn't just going to kill him. I was going to destroy his very being. He started to crawl away from me as I walked forward. He went for a gun, but that's when I leapt on him. I landed on his back and dug my claws into his flesh. He yelled in pain and I dug in harder. I began his punishment by ripping the majority of the skin and muscle off his back. One of my claws caught a tendon and after I cut it one of his muscles detached and flopped over onto the ground. I rolled him over and looked into his eyes.

"Please. . .please don't. . ."

"Shut your fucking face!"

I grabbed his lower jaw and pulled it down so it was just flopping there. I didn't want to pull it all the way off yet, he needs to be alive for a little longer. Now all he could do was gurgle pathetically. I grabbed one of his arms and started to pull it away from the socket. I heard it pop out and thats when the flesh began to tear. His gurgling was even more agonized now. He killed my friend. The only one I had. I'm sick of losing friends to this kind of bullshit. To something that other people believe in and force upon others. That's why I lost Ya'uta. He was forced into a way of life and punished for thinking his could be different.

Philus' blood was pooling around him fast. I wanted to say so many things to him before I killed him, belittle him and insult his existence in every way possible, but I couldn't stand the thought of him breathing anymore. I punched him in the face over and over until I was punching through it to the ground. I stepped away from the mess I had made of him and looked at where I had last seen Fahu. The expression on his face was torturing me. He seemed like he was proud to die for my sake. Like he had proven himself by dying for me. I wanted to kill myself. He had already proven himself to me. I walked over to the alter and looked. There was an hourglass.

"All this for a fucking hourglass?"

I reached out to grab it. When my hand made contact with it I felt a wave of dizziness pass through me. I fell on my ass and then onto my back. I felt like my limbs were trying to tear themselves off. It felt like I was lying on the ground convulsing for hours. It finally stopped and I sat up shakily. That was extremely strange.

I was hesitant to touch the hourglass again, but I figured that was a one time thing. I picked it up and was content knowing I had been right. I have to get this back to Borgos and tell him that I'll never do anything for him again.

The flight back was very lonely. I didn't know what had happened to Fahu. I wondered what he was thinking in that last moment of his life. Did his thoughts match the look on his face? I felt a tear slide down my face. I didn't bother wiping it off. It was caught in my fur anyway. Why do mortals have to be so stupid and wreckless with their lives. It's like they can't appreciate living unless they know one day they are going to die, and they have to be retarded and kill themselves just to save someone that can't die. What the fuck is wrong with them?

"I just don't get it."

When I made it back to Meritos I was in a very bad mood. I landed my ship a little more roughly than I probably should have, I slammed things around before I walked off of it and I sulked all the way to Borgos' pavillion.

"Naui, you're back already?"

"Yeah, here's your thing."

I set it on the desk and he looked at it. I was still covered in blood and had bits of flesh hanging from my claws.

"I take it he didn't cooperate."

I didn't respond to that at all. One thing I hate when I'm in a mood like this is when people state the obvious.

"Where is Fahu?"

I slammed my fist down on the desk and roared. He recoiled and a couple of his men drew their guns.

"He's dead! He's fucking dead because you sent us on that stupid mission! We went on that stupid mission because I'm a fuckhead and think I always need more money! Greed is the real killer here!"

I fell into the chair and put my face in my hands. I managed to squeak out one more phrase.

"God damn it."

"Naui, I'm sorry. I didn't think there was any danger in this mission. Philus has never been known to kill before. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you. . ."

I shot a death glare at him and he reversed his path before he fell into quicksand.

"Here is your money."

One of his men put a briefcase in front of me and quickly withdrew from my reach.

"We're done here Borgos. I can't do business with you anymore."

He seemed surprised at that for a moment, but then I saw the look of understanding on his face.

"All right, if that is what you feel is right."

I stood up, after grabbing the breifcase, and turned around to go back to my ship.

"Thanks for doing business with Fahu and I for the last few years."

"It's been my pleasure."

I got onto my ship and threw the breifcase into the wall. It crashed into it, but didn't pop open. Damn sturdy locks. When I throw something I want it to break. I sat down in my chair and slammed my head into the control panel for about five minutes.

After I threw my fit I fired up the ship and headed out into deep, deep, space. I don't want anyone to find me.

I was as far out as I could go. My eyes were getting heavy. Finally, I couldn't keep them open anymore.

I woke up in a worse mood than I was in before. I wasn't going to get a reprieve from the guilt that was eating at me. What is it that I did to deserve all this tragedy in my life? I came to a decision to not blame myself. I'm not the one that died. It was Fahu. I'll just blame him for doing something to piss off life. He must have done something really bad to end up the way he did.

"Yeah right."

That isn't going to work for me. I have too much respect for him and I know that he was a good person. It was my fault that he was there. I had to drag him all over the universe when I could have just dropped him off somewhere and he would be fine right now instead of being just a memory. If I had walked around the side of that chamber instead of right into the middle of it that statue would have never been activated.

Once again I have ruined someone's life. I'm a life wrecker. I wonder if that's worse than a home wrecker. Probably. I'm such a shit.

After moping for a while I looked at my fuel gauge. It was very low. Even if I wanted to go anywhere I. . . .

That's when the control panel started beeping and the entire room lit up with emergency lights. My ears were bombarded with the emergency sirens a split second later. I looked out the window and saw a planet coming up fast. This isn't right. There aren't supposed to be planets out this far.

"Ah shit."

The ship started to plummet into the atmosphere and I couldn't do anything about it. The manual override wasn't working, nothing was working. Looks like I'm in for a rough landing. I strapped myself in and locked the chair in place so it wouldn't swivel about. I read the readout of the planet as fast as I could. It seemed that the air was mostly toxic and the majority of the land was swamps, marshes and mountains. Who the hell designed this place? Swamps, marshes and mountains? How the hell do mountains come into play? I heard a sound to my left and looked over. Sponge Guy was standing on the control panel. I grabbed him and put him in my lap.

"This is going to be a really rough landing."

I watched the ground rise up fast. I realized that the crash might just kill Sponge Guy, and possibly myself. As quickly as I could I unstrapped myself and headed to the door of the ship. I hit the button to open it. It opened about half a foot and then got stuck.

"Fuck!"

I looked out the window and then at Sponge Guy. If I time this right he'll be fine. I waited until we were a few feet from the ground and I tossed him out the opening. I didn't have time to wonder how bad the crash was going to be.


	6. Flying Doom

"Where are you running to? What are you running from?"

"Dad?"

"Why do you hold yourself back?"

"What's happening?"

I looked at my father's face. I had never known him, but I knew it was him. I was too young to really remember him, he left me on Earth when I was just a kitten. My eyes hadn't even opened. I remember his scent though and I resembled him. His eyes were like mine. A light grey surrounded by black.

"My child, you're so angry."

"Why did you leave me on that planet?"

He ran his paw along my face and I couldn't help, but to purr. The memory of my father had always been so cloudy. All I remember of him was scent and sound. The day I realized there was no human part in me I wondered what sort of creature I really was. After shedding my human skin I figured I was some sort of cat mutant. His face was slightly different than mine. Darker, more pigment on his nose.

"Your mother has been worried for you. We thought we would lose you after that night you saw the crab-face."

I pushed his paw away from my face.

"Why wont you answer me?"

He looked at me for a moment longer and then turned away.

"Walk with me. I have to show you what transpired."

He dropped down on all fours and walked into the trees. I did as he did, but I had to quicken my step to keep up with his long gate. He was twice my size and had much longer legs. We walked throught the trees in silence for a few minutes before we came to a clearing. There was a hole in the ground. He walked in, but I hesitated. The smell of death and burning that was coming from there was bothering my overly sensitive nose. He turned to look at me.

"Nothing in here can hurt you anymore."

I cautiously followed him down into the darkness. It only took a second for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light. I could see clearly even in here. We walked on down the tunnel. It opened into a cavern and when I walked around next to his left shoulder I saw what I had been smelling. There were bodies strung out across the floor of the cave and parts of the rocks still burned. This didn't make any sense to me. How can rocks burn? A strange looking man stepped out of a tunnel in front of us. I growled a warning to him that I was going to attack.

"This is only a memory, he cannot hear you or see you."

I stopped growling and looked up at my father. The man began to converse with someone else. His very presence invoked a feeling of anxiety in me. I pressed my shoulder against my father's leg to try and comfort myself.

"It looks like this is the end for these monsters."

"What is our next move Lord?"

"We must finish purging this world of the animals."

"Yes Lord. I will let the others know."

They walked right through us and out of my line of vision. They had slaughtered all of my kind.

"I'm the last one, aren't I?"

"In a way yes. You may think you now know what you are, but you're forgetting that you do not succumb to death like we."

I frowned and looked across the cavern at the bodies.

"It was your mother."

"What?"

"She wasn't one of us. She was a wraith."

"A wraith?"

"Yes. They are powerful mages. We fell in love and you were the outcome of that love. We wanted to raise you as both wraith and Lynen, but then they came. Your mother stayed behind to try and stave off the attackers. Wraiths are indestructible to any other creature. If a wraith chooses to kill another, however, then they will die."

"Why did the wraiths attack?"

"They were being controlled by something else. That man, Lord, he is a being that outpowers even the wraiths. He convinced them to do his bidding."

We weren't in the cave anymore, we were sitting on a mountain peak that overlooked a vast area. Everything was in flames.

"It didn't stop with us. They "purged" the entire planet of all life. Now they inhabit this planet, ruled by Lord."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because you have returned to the planet and you are in danger."

Sponge Guy prodded me out of my vision and I sat up and looked around.

"Father!"

I looked around for any sign of him, but there was none. No paw prints, no scent of him in the air. It had just been a dream. I turned my head and my spine protested, but I forgot about that when I saw my ship. It was a twisted wreck. The window was shattered and there was blood and fur stuck on a few pieces of jutting glass. That would explain why I was lying on the ground outside of my ship. I must have flown through the window when the ship crashed into the rocks. I looked up to my left and saw the mountain my father and I had been on top of in that strange vision. I grabbed Sponge Guy and trotted up the mountain as far as I could. The cliffs became sheer and I placed Sponge Guy on my shoulder, gave him a moment to anchor himself and began climbing the side using my claws.

Once at the top I looked around. Everything looked so different, only a few lanmasses resembles the ones that I had seen. Now there were towers and huge black buildings stretching across the land. The wraiths. I saw a castle right in the center of the city. That must be where Lord is. Anyone named Lord must be a real ass hole. I looked back at my ship. There was smoke rising from it. That is definitely going to be a sign to anyone who sees it that someone is here. I'd better grab anything I need and get as far away from here as I can before they come looking for me. I know what my father meant by danger. That didn't have to be explained to me.

"It's strange conversing with the dead."

I climbed down as fast as I could and entered my poor ship, what was left of it anyway. I grabbed my cloak, filled my backpack with what little food I had on the ship, and a good amount of money. If I ever get off this planet, I'll need to be able to buy another ship. Seeing the big picture has always been a gift of mine. It's gotten me out of a few tight spots in the past.

I finished gathering what I needed and headed out into the swamp, away from the wraith city, with Sponge Guy on my shoulder. He seemed to be enjoying the humidity a lot. I suppose if I was a sponge I would like it too. Good thing he doesn't have lungs or this air might kill him. I know that if I hadn't been born here I would be suffering right now.

Funny how I had thought I resembled and Earth creature. Now I know I don't. I also know hwy I hate the cold so much. Lynx's may resemble my kind, but they are a lot better adapted for the cold than I am.

As I was walking along a huge insect landed right on my face and obstructed my vision. I froze. All I could see was a large thorax. The insect moved down a little and I saw a set of huge pincers. My ears flattened against my head. This is unnerving. I stopped breathing so as not to provoke it into attacking my face. I slowly raised my paw up and closed my eyes. I got my nerve up and smacked the bug as hard as I could. It was flung into a tree to my left and hit with a loud crack. The insect was stunned, but in a moment it was back up and flying right for me. I decided to run from it. It followed me through the trees. Everytime I looked back it was bussing along behind me.

"That's one pissed off bug."

I looked ahead of me again and saw a huge web strung in between a couple of trees. I slid to a halt and ducked as the insect flew into the trap. It was stuck and almost immediately a spider five times the size of the flying beetle thing charged out and grabbed it. If I wanted to all I would have to do is reach my paw about 3 inches and I could touch the spider. I had no inclination to do that however. I heard a loud crunch as the spider bit into the beetle and, I assume, pumped some venom into it. I was morbidly fascinated by this spectacle, but not enough to stay and watch the rest of it. At least now I know that there are still giant bugs here. That's one thing that always lives on after everthing else is wiped out. Bugs. Creepy crawly things tend to triumph.

I walked around the tree that the left side of the web was attached to and kept going keeping eyes and ears tuned to my surroundings. After three hours of walking through dense underbrush, and slicing myself countless times on sharp thorns and leaves, I came to a clearing. There was a hole in the ground. That's the entrance to the cave I was born in.

I wanted to go in, but I knew what I would see. It was a tomb now. The scent of the dead was still thick in the air. My curiousity got the better of me and I entered. I mornfully made my way into the main cavern.

Countless bones were scattered along the floor. All the skulls had the same shape to them, protruding noses, long fangs, and just to be ironic, bone-crushing jaws. I stood there looking around for a while. Something strange caught my eyes. Something was giving off a faint glow. I walked over and pushed aside some rubble. It was a glowing skeleton. Humanoid in shape and size. I knelt down to get a closer look. This must have been my mother. I touched the skull and my hunch was confirmed. I could feel her.

As I stood up to leave something in her hand glinted.

"An amulet."

I picked it up. The aura of it was powerful. If she had been wearing this then why was she killed, this thing could save her life. She had been holding it, however, and it didn't do much good. I turned it over and looked at the symbol on it. It was the same strange 's' shape as my birthmark. Yes, I have one. It under a discolored patch in my fur on the inside of my left wrist.

She must have made this for me. I put it around my neck and stood up.

"So the prodigal beast returns."

I swung around, crouched down, and growled menacingly.

"You are quite small. I thought that you would be bigger given your Lynen heritage."

The man walked around me in a very large circle.

"You look a lot like these beasts, but you're different."

He looked at the skeleton that was lying near my feet.

"Is that your mother? That would explain a lot of things. The rumors I heard were true then. Lord had said that he detected a R.F.R."

I flattened my ears back a little more and growled. He's talking in acronyms and I hate that.

"I see you are confused. . .Reality fabric rip. More commonly known as rifts among the uneducated."

That caused me to growl again. This guy is a fucking jerk. He put his hand to his face and laughed.

"Your mother has caused us trouble even after years of her being dead. She must have opened that rift for you to escape us. If your father hadn't come back, he would still be alive today and his skull wouldn't be mounted in Lords dining chamber."

I stopped growling. My father's skull is mounted on a wall? Someone is going to be punished for that. The man laughed.

"Don't look so surprised. Lord has many trophies."

That made me resume my growling. It reminded me of the Yautja. Always taking skulls for trophies and mounting them on walls. Anything that resembled a Yautja or acted like one caused my anger to rise and had to be destroyed. With the exception of Ya'uta. My heart started to ache with the realization that I had been doomed from the beginning of my life and that I had taken others down with me that didn't deserve that fate.

"Well, enough small talk, I have to take you in."

The last thing I saw was an orange snake like bolt flying towards me.


	7. This is Life

Damn the Yautja. I never could comprehend the true meaning behind taking trophies. If you've killed something, isn't it enough to just know you did it? I've killed a lot of people in my time and nothing has ever compelled me to take their body parts and mount them on a wall. Damned yautja. It wasn't them this time though, it was another creature with an affinity for skulls. Is it because they feel theirs aren't good enough? Do they feel they are missing something?

I looked across the room at the other beings in their cells. They all looked the same. They had lost themselves. They hadn't seen the outside world for so long that they forgot their identity. Unfortunately for me I wouldn't forget who I was. I knew that I possessed a very powerful mind and being. Another thing is. . .I don't think they are planning on letting me live for much longer.

"This is droll."

That's when I realized I was alone in my cell. Sponge Guy was nowhere to be found. Oh, I remember now. He wasn't with me when I got zapped. Or at least, not on my shoulder. He must be in the woods somewhere. I sighed. Now I'm lonely. My eyes wandered around the room. I saw what looked to be a Dagon in one of the cells. That didn't make much sense to me since they don't tend to leave their galaxy and this one is very far away.

"Hey."

About three of the prisoners looked at me.

"Dagon."

The other two looked hurt and immediately turned their backs to me. That's right, go ahead and pretend I don't exist.

"What is it?"

"What are you doing here? You aren't exactly from around these parts."

"What is it to you?"

I sighed and grabbed the bars of the cell with my paws.

"I just want to know."

"And how do you know what I am?"

"I had a Dagon for a friend."

This seemed to get a reaction from him.

"What was his name?"

"Fahu."

He stood up and walked to the bars and looked at me more closely.

"What word do you have of him?"

"He's. . .dead."

"What? How did he die?"

I didn't want to lie and since there were bars and a few feet seperating us I figured I wouldn't have to fight him if he got upset.

"He died protecting me."

The Dagon frowned and hung his head. When he looked at me again, the expression wasn't one I had expected.

"You must have been a good friend to him if he gave his life for you."

I nodded. I hope that was the case. If he just wanted to die to get away from me, I would have to feel worthless.

"They abducted me from my home. I've been put through many experiments in their lab."

"Experiments? Why?"

"I overheard them speaking about wanting to create the ultimate weapon. Something that could wipe out the universe."

"So I guess they haven't realized they are part of the universe."

"What?"

"They'll get wiped out too."

I sat down on the floor, leaned against the bar and crossed my arms over my chest. I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I came here to kill them, but since they are going to kill themselves, there's really no point."

"Don't you want to save the universe?"

"It's not really any of my concern."

I heard him mumble a few incoherent words and slam his hands against the bars. After a few minutes the door that led into the rest of the building opened. A tall hooded figure came in. He stopped in front of my cage, but I didn't turn around to look at him.

"I never thought the rumors were true. I didn't possibly think that such a creature as you could exist past a certain age. No others have."

My ears twitched. Others? So I'm not the first of my kind?

"Now I see that there is indeed an abomination, and on my planet nonetheless. What made you come back here?"

I heard him shuffle his feet. I'm not talking to this ass hole. I stood up and walked over to the corner and curled up into a ball with my back to him.

"If you don't want to talk, that's fine."

The cell door opened and I felt something hit my back. It felt just like that orange bolt I had seen flying towards me when I was captured. I'll assume that's what it was this time as well. I played half-dead and let myself be carried away. I listened to the sounds around me. I didn't particularily like what I was hearing. Pained screaming, frightened cries, the melody of torture. After about five minutes I was placed on a table and strapped to it. I don't know what they are going to attempt to do to me, but I don't think I'm going to be all right with it.

I felt something get very close to my face.

"Wake up."

I kept my eyes closed and mostly ignored that voice. That's the voice of the person I hate the most right now. I was hit in the face rather hard by something resembling a fist. I opened my eyes and roared. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't.

"I want you to be awake for this. It will be a learning experience for both of us."

"I hate you."

He frowned. Wow, this guy is one of those types. The ones that can be the ultimate piece of shit, but still be surprised when someone says they hate them or don't agree with them.

"I'm doing something good here. I'm trying to help people."

"No you're not."

"I. . . "

"Wrong! Whatever you say is wrong, you don't know what you are talking about, you're retarded, shall I go on?"

He glared at me and signaled one of his underlings. He walked over with a large syringe and shoved it in my arm. He started drawing out some of my blood.

"That's mine!"

I twisted my arm to the side and the needle snapped off. I kicked out with my feet and the straps broke. I flipped backwards, landed on the floor and ripped my hands away from the table. As soon as they were free I hit one of the wraiths in the face and slashed another arcross the chest. I had killed about three when I heard a crack and felt something sting my back. I was shocked. That actually hurt. I turned around to see what that had been. There was a different wraith standing there. His aura made my muscles quiver. He was holding a long whip in his hand and it was glowing green. That must be what just hit me. My eyes traveled up to his face. He had very black eyes. They seemed to pull in light instead of reflect it. He had black hair as well. If I didn't want him dead so bad, I would think he was the most handsome man I had ever seen.

He grinned at me and I crouched down. Why is he grinning like that? I would think he would be scowling.

"Hello Lena. Have you returned to fullfil your mother's promise?"

" . . .What?"

"Your mother made a vow that when her daughter was old enough, I would be given a wife."

"She probably didn't mean me. Why would she give her daughter to a bastard like you?"

"Because I let her refuse me. She was meant to be my wife, but when she fell in love with that Lynen father of yours, I realized she wouldn't be happy with me. I let her go after she promised you to me."

I nearly doubled over, but managed to keep my stance somehow. This couldn't be true. He has to be lying, of course, I've learned that men with this much influence and narcissism don't tend to lie. They don't have to. Mother, what did you do?

"But you didn't let her go. You killed her and all the Lynens."

"I was upset."

He started to wind up the whip. After he was done, he attached it to a hook on his belt. At least he isn't going to use that again. I can still feel the pain in my back where it hit me.

"No, when someone is upset they drink themselves stupid or maybe start a small brawl, but they don't wipe out an entire planet."

"Lena, you must understand, how would you have felt if Ya'uta had taken a wife after confessing his feelings for you? Wouldn't you want to destroy something?"

"Yes, but I lack rationality. You seem to be rational, so for you to pull something like that is taken into different consideration."

I stopped for a moment and realized I was speaking to him as if I knew him. I feel like I actually do. What the hell is going on?

"Anyone can lose their reasoning abilities when faced with heart ache. You of all people should understand that."

This conversation isn't going in a direction I'm used to. Normally by now I would have taken a chunk out of this guy, or killed him, and made my escape. Here I am having a conversation with him about what is considered right and wrong. This is really starting to freak me out. I stood up and sat down on the table. I looked around for a moment at the three wraiths I had slain. Their bodies were slowly disolving off their bones. Lord took a seat on the counter across from me. He looked at me for a moment.

"How did you get here?"

"I wasn't planning on it if that's what you're thinking. My ship just sort of crashed all on it's own."

"So would you think of it as fate that you're here?"

"No, just a misfortunate accident."

"You cannot wound me Lena."

"What?"

"After all the pain my heart has gone through with your mother, she could really push my buttons, I'm immune to most insults."

I sighed and ran my hand over my head. I'm not quite accostumed to lacking hair. I have fur, yeah, but it isn't really the same. After I ran my paw through my fur I looked at Lord again.

"So you want me for a wife?"

"Of course. I can see that you aren't as callous and evil as your mother was, at least not mentally. You are very straight forward. I rely on your bluntness."

I blinked a few times. This is just getting weirder and weirder.

"Why is it that I feel I know you?"

"Your mother made sure you would know me as soon as you saw me. That way we wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of getting to know each other. You know how awkward that can be."

"Actually, I don't. I've never been in a relationship before."

"That's right. Ya'uta and you were seperated before that came about."

It was creeping me out that he knew so much about that.

"Why do you know this?"

"I've been searching for you all your life. It was only when the Yautja provoked the change in you that I found you. You were hidden for years because your energy was covered up, You really believed you were human, so you were masked from me."

I might have been wrong about him, initially. He really seems to have a compassionate side. That doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and marry him.

"Are you hungry?"

I nodded and followed him out of the room. I don't know what is going to happen to me now, but I would like to think I have a say in it.


	8. Deception?

I was staring at Lord over my plate of food. He would occasionally glance at me, but I think the way I was staring at him made him a little nervous. I suppose that's what I was going for. I don't like this situation and I don't want to be here. I don't give a damn if I was promised to someone. . .if it wasn't my decision then I don't have to go through with it. I didn't make the promise. I decide what happens to me in my life.

I didn't eat much since I was so aggravated. Lord finished his food and looked at me.

"You seem that you have a lot on your mind."

"I want to go now."

"You've only just arrived."

"So what? I feel like leaving now. Ass hole."

He scowled at me, presumably because I called him an ass hole.

"People don't speak to me that way, no matter who they are."

"I would have you say you're wrong about that. So I'm going to go home now."

"You don't have a home. You forfitted that when you ran off with Ya'uta."

"I did not run off with him! He kidnapped me! He wanted to hold me against my will just as you! I don't like being contained."

"I thought you understood that you belong to me."

That pushed me even further. I jumped out of my seat and caused the chair to clatter to the floor. I slammed my hands down on the table and growled for a moment.

"What's wrong now?"

"I don't belong to anyone. I'm not going to marry you and have your litter. . .I'm going to leave this place."

"How do you think you're going to get away from us? You only know your Lynen side. . .Your wraith side is a mystery to you. You wouldn't even know if you hadn't come here in the first place."

"I would have done just fine without that information. It never bothered me. What I was and who my parents were didn't ever cross my mind, well maybe once. . .My point is, I hate you, you're a fuckhole, and I want to get out of here."

Lord stood up and walked around the table towards me. I backed away as he advanced. He stopped, realizing that I wasn't going to hold still. He grinned a little and disappeared. I sensed something behind me and whirled around just in time for Lord to get his hand around my throat. He lifted me up and slammed me down onto the table. I kicked at him with my back paws, but he didn't seem to care much. I suddenly stopped and listened to what my mind was telling me. This whole thing had been a set up. My mother had never promised me to him, instead, she had vowed to one day destroy him. He had been lying. I don't know how I caught this so fast, but if I had been conned into marrying him, that would have been a big mistake. He grinned.

"I see you've uncovered my plot. I did lie to you, but I have a good reason. You alone have the power to destroy me. If you and I had been wed, I would have been able to control you easier, you would have been more compliant. Like putty in my hands."

"We are just too different you and I. Oh and it's not me, it's you that is wrong with this relationship. . ."

He squeezed my neck tighter for a moment, then he let up again. I was a little mad at myself for letting my realization show on my face. Generally I can hide my revelations from people until I feel they should know what I know.

"I don't suppose crushing your windpipe would do much damage. . .it probably doesn't even hurt you, does it?"

I shook my head as he reached under his robe. My ears pressed against my head. I hated it when people reached under their clothing. . .it could only mean one thing. When I saw what he was holding, I realized I had been right to worry. He lifted up his whip. I watched as it unraveled. He lifted me up again and threw me over the table this time. I hit the floor and managed to dodge the whip for a few minutes. At least until he started teleporting around the room sporadically. I felt a searing pain in my back and fell to the ground. I couldn't move. I felt as all four of my paws twitched and all my muscles tensed. It was quite uncomfortable and hurt like hell. He knelt down next to me and smiled.

"You can save yourself the pain of this and agree to marry me."

I managed to raise my paw just a little bit, enough to get it into his line of view and gave him the middle finger. He scowled at me and stood up to his full height so he could loom. For some reason the "bad guys" always have to loom.

"I see. . .so it's going to be like that, is it?"

He unfurled the whip again and I closed my eyes thinking that it would be a nice reprieve to just die. After the third strike, I was unconscious.

I was back in my cell lying on my stomach, not moving at all because every time I did it would send bolts of pain throughout my entire body. I was so used to being impervious to pain that this came as quite a shock to me. I should have just stayed in bed. . .

A few times I was checked on by a wraith that wore a white robe. I figured he was some sort of medic due to his clothes and the fact that he would tranquilize me and poke and prod at my back as doctors tend to do. They never seem to understand that poking and prodding does not bring about happy sensations to a wound. As the days went by and my back healed, his visits were less frequent and I was alone more often to plot or feel a little self pity and a whole lot of loathing for the entire wraith race.

One day I was lying on my stomach feeling especially pathetic and wishing I had someone to talk to when I looked around at the other cells and noticed they were all empty. Well that's unsettling. When the hell did that occur? I thought of the dagon and felt a stab of pain. Poor Fahu. If I make it out of this with my wits still intact, I'm going to go back to that temple and tell him I'm sorry, again.

After another week or so of no food, and only a little water I could lap off the ground from a puddle fed by a leaky pipe, I was extremely pissed off. I decided I was going to tear apart the next being I came into contact with. The wraith that walked into the room that very moment must have known what I was thinking because he had a whip much like the one Lord had accosted me with. I growled at him and backed into the corner of the cell. Maybe I'll attack someone that isn't carrying a whip of doom.

"Lord told me that he didn't want me to use this on you, but if I have to I can."

I growled again.

"Is the animal side of you taking over? Are you losing your reasoning capabilities? Good. We were hoping for that."

The nice thing about being alone and having a mind like mine, you figure things out a lot faster. Wraiths can read minds when a person is broadcasting. To prevent that, I learned a way to shut them out, to stop broadcasting my thoughts. And here he is thinking that I'm loosing my reasoning capabities. Hah hah hah. I kept my mind shut, but to myself I said 'fuck you buddy'. I can reason just fine. I, unlike some creatures, wont become a wild animal. This jack ass is going to get a nice surprise when I kill him. That's after I figure out how to get that whip away from him, of course.

The wraith slowly opened the cell door and held the whip at the ready. I stayed immobile in the corner. I wanted to seem as dispirited and compliant as I could. He tossed something at my wrists and it wrapped itself around tightly. Fuck.

I was drug out of the room, down a long hallway, through a door, and then secured to a device that held my arms outstretched from side to side. This left me completely unable to defend myself. As soon as Lord walked in the room, I knew I was in for a hellish time. Where's Samanosuke when I need him? I would even settle for Jubei right now. Lord grabbed my face and made me look at him.

"I'm sorry for the way you've been treated."

"Yeah right, you instructed it, fuckwad."

I snapped at his hand, but he moved it before I could take off his fingers.

"It's not my fault. You just need to loosen up. Forget the past. Let's have a future together, Lena. We could be so happy."

"Fuck that."

He scowled at me and pulled out his whip. As I watched his face muscles contort, I realized that scowling seems to be the only expression he knows. All other times he has a completely blank look on his face and an almost vacant look in his eyes. The wheel is turning. . .but the hampster is dead.

"Just like your mother. She never listened to reason either."

I felt it was about time to get something cleared up. It had been bothering me for a while.

"You know, I'm starting to think that everything you've said about her was a lie. I don't think that wraith was my mother. And that vision I had about my father, I'm not a lynen, that was all bullshit. You've been trying to program me since I arrived here. I think you have no idea what I am and that's why you want me so bad. You want to learn what I am and what I can do."

He looked at me and grinned. I knew it. I was thinking that it was too conveinient that I showed up on a random planet that happened to be my birthplace. All lies.

"So my secret is out. . .no worries. You'll find that I always get my way no matter what."

He walked around behind me and I closed my eyes waiting for the searing pain of the whip. I felt it hit my back. I let my body go limp after a few minutes of hard lashings. I can't take this anymore. Lord stopped whipping me and walked around in front of me again.

"So how about now?"

I just glared at him.

"Take her back to her cell. We'll try again next week."

I was unchained and two wraiths began to drag me out the door. I looked back over my shoulder at Lord and slightly grinned. The expression on his face almost made me laugh. He had been totally clueless that I was feigning pain. He was going to say something, but it was way too late for that.


	9. Reunion

I threw my arms out to the side and hit both the wraiths that were dragging me, in that pressure point right below their ear lobes, as hard as I could. I was quite pleased with the noises they made right before they lost control of their bodies. As they fell I grabbed one of them by the neck and drove my claws through his trachea. I smashed my foot through the other dope's head. As I turned to Lord he readied his whip. Apparently the revelation that his whip was a superfluous impediment hadn't come to him yet. He isn't as crafty as I first thought him to be. I crouched down slightly and bared my teeth at him in a mocking fashion. At these times I usually get very sarcasic and mean. In a funny way.

"Careful Lord, I've lost my reasoning capabilities, my animal side has taken over."

He stared at me with a look on his face I hadn't seen previously. I was amazed to see that he was actually a little scared right now. His face had that telltale pale to it that meant he just realized the deep shit he's sinking into. I didn't think he knew what fear was. Maybe he's just a slow learner. Funny how he thought he was so powerful, that his trinkets and mind tricks could work on me. I suppose I'm more powerful than he had anticipated. He lashed out at me with the whip. I caught it in my hand and wrapped it around my wrist a couple times to get a good grip on it.

"The thing is, Lord, what anyone expects of me, is the opposite of what I do. With Ya'uta. . .well, he expected me to thank him for saving me, instead I nearly killed him. I do feel sorry for that, but that is the best example that I can think of right now."

"Why is the whip not working?"

"My body adapts to things. Magic whips, tranquilizers, bullets, arrows. . .nothing affects me for very long."

"Please don't kill me."

"Don't beg, don't plead. I know this game. I'll start to feel guilty and somehow you'll get the upper hand on me. Fuck you."

He glared at me, not a scowl this time, but a full on glare. I was impressed that he could contort his face in such a way. I yanked on the whip and it slipped out of his hand and I caught it in mine. I looked at him and grinned maniacally.

"Let's see how well you deal with this."

I lashed at him and the whip struck his face. He fell to his knees, grabbing his face, and screaming in pain.

"Oh come on you big baby, it doesn't hurt that bad."

I whipped him a few more times before I got bored with the effect the whip was having. It wasn't gruesome enough. I tossed it on the ground and extended my claws. I jumped at him, we tumbled across the floor for a moment before we hit the wall. I dug my claws into his forehead and pulled downwards, tearing flesh as I went.

Two of my claws became stuck in each of his eyes as I pulled down and they both burst, splashing my face with ocular fluid. He reeled back, grabbing at his now missing eyes and screaming. For some reason I was entranced by his pathetic writhing. Almost too much to notice that we weren't alone anymore. I looked at the doorway and saw a group of wraiths standing there. One had a large cannon-like object strapped to his shoulder. I doubt that shoots plasma, or cannon balls, or anything that could be easily dodged.

I jumped up onto the wall and clambered upwards towards the ceiling and the windows that were only a few feet from me. I heard a strange whirring noise and looked back over my shoulder just in time to see a dark green bolt of something fly out of the cannon towards me. I leapt upwards. When it impacted the wall it sent a shockwave towards me. That caused my body to be tossed even farther up. My back slammed against the ceiling and I was held there for a moment by the force of the blast. Before I began to fall again I latched onto the ceiling. I looked down at the seemingly smaller wraiths, not to mention the cannon, that for some reason did not look any smaller, and decided that I needed to move fast.

He didn't realize it, but by shooting the wall he had created an even better opening for my escape than the window. I heard that whirring again and angled myself towards the opening in the wall. I kicked off the wall towards the hole. Before I fell onto the ledge I grabbed a reinforcement bar that was now sticking out and swung my way through the opening.

When I saw how far away the ground was from me, I was glad that my bones were as resilient as titanium. The ground flew at me incredibly fast and just before I hit I crouched down. Luckily for me, I'm reasonably cat-like and cats always land on their feet. I hit the ground running, wanting to get as far away from the city as possible before they came out the door after me.

About an hour later I made it back to the crash site where my poor ship was lying broken and covered in dirt and partially obstructed from view by vines. I entered what was left of the main compartment and started rummaging around the debris. If it's not here, I'm going to be very upset. Finally the smallish metal box came into view. After pushing away a few pieces of insulation and metal, I picked it up. I opened it to make sure the contents wasn't ruined. The little red light was still flashing. Hooray for small miracles. I heard a chortle to my left and slowly turned my head. It had been so long since I had heard that noise, I had nearly forgotten what it was.

"Sponge Guy!"

I tried moving my feet too fast and the debris under them slid out from under me and I almost did a face plant. I stumbled about for a moment or two before I got adequate footing and raced over to the control panel where Sponge Guy was standing looking at me with amusement. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I ripped him up off the control panel and hugged him to me. He chortled and quivered happily.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

He made his little 'yeah right' chitter and I put him on my shoulder.

"I suppose you're right. You must be just as happy to see me."

With Sponge Guy upon my shoulder and the metal box under one of my arms, I dashed through the thick, hot jungle. The air smelled so fresh and nice. I had been in that cell for so long that I had forgotten was outside was like. As we traveled I scanned the preceding territory and Sponge Guy watched the receding.

"Just like old times, huh?"

He chirped in agreement and focused suddenly on one tree. My ears went back and I slowed down so I could possibly see what he was really looking at. I saw a shadow of a face on the tree. I frowned and sped up again. That face didn't belong to a wraith, so I don't have to stop and kill it. It might just be a weird marking on the tree. Just as I was thinking that, it peeled away from the bole of the tree and started following me. Sponge Guy kept his site trained on this weird chameleon like creature.

It didn't seem immediately threatening. To me it appeared that it was in a state of curiosity. It hadn't decided if I would taste good, hah. . .hah. For about three miles it followed us. Just before it got too close for comfort the tree line abruptly ended and I was looking at the face of a cliff. I trotted towards it and began to climb, one handed. Let me tell you, that is no easy feat.

A ledge came into view as the strange creature started to climb up behind me. I scrambled clumsily onto the ledge and set the box on the ground. I figured I had about 3 minutes before the creature climbed past me, then dropped in on me. I took the small device out of the box and turned it on. Yautja text flashed across the screen. Good thing I knew what it said. I punched in the instructions and the coordinates of the planet. I just hope that I remember them correctly. It has been a long time since my ship crashed here and I only saw the coordinates for a couple seconds.

Sponge Guy alerted me that we weren't alone. I kept my back to the creature and my pulse at the regular. Sponge Guy was watching him though. It timidly crawled down the cliff face and slowly approached me from behind. It wasn't stalking so much as walking with a shuffle like a scolded child would do en route to its room. I slowly turned my head and looked at it.

"You've been following me for a long time now."

It didn't have mammary glands, so I have to assume it's male. It's skin appeared to have a very strange texture, almost like billions of tiny mirrored scales. That must be what it uses to refract certain light and colors. It's face was slightly elongated with mammalian qualities. It's eyelashes were very long like a camels, and it's nose was moving like a tapirs.

"I. . .didn't know if it was safe."

"I really don't think anyone is safe on this planet."

I looked at the device. It was sending the message. I was getting impatient already. I didn't even know how long I would have to wait for a response.

"Why did they let you go?"

I frowned.

"Who?"

"Them."

He pointed a quadruple segmented finger towards the city. I sighed and looked at him like he was crazy.

"They didn't let me go. I killed two of them, injured one, and escaped all on my own."

"Who was injured?"

"Lord."

He grimaced and sat on his haunches. After a few minutes of him staring at me there was a beep from the device. I read the response. 3 days. Oh fuck.

"I took out his eyes."

"He is blind now?"

"I think he was blind before, but now he's physically blind."

"My kind have been hiding from him for a long time."

"You can hide in plain view now if you want."

I was getting uneasy and the news that it would be 3 whole days until I had the chance to get off this stupid planet upset me. I repacked the device and stood up. The weird guy jumped up and backwards. Timid beings like him make me nervous. I looked out over the landscape for a moment, surveying for a possible hideout where I could remain undetected for a few days. Somewhere near here since this would be the spot for my rescue.

"Well, it's been nice chatting, but I have to get going now. I don't want them to find me and that means I have to keep moving."

"Watch out for the reapers."

"Reapers?"

"They fly low, shoot green light."

I gathered that this meant they had crafts armed with those weird cannon things.

"Thanks. You watch out for those too."

I jumped off the side of the cliff so I wouldn't have to climb down with the box again. I landed in a crouch and looked up to see if the creature was watching me. No surprise that he was. I scampered off around the side of the mountain.


	10. Lunch Time

I was walking through what seemed to be a flat plain, yammering on to Sponge Guy about how annoying creatures can be when they are afraid of everything, how stupid it was that I was going to have to wait 3 days to get out of here, how I wish I could take a nice hot shower, and how I need my ship back. He was nodding and replying in his own way, agreeing that it was all stupid, when there wasn't any ground under my feet anymore and I tumbled down into a long tunnel. After the world stopped spinning and I recovered the box from a few feet in front of me I looked around the tunnel. It looked like it had been carved out by an animal.

The fact that the tunnel was about 30 feet in circumference was disconcerting. Whatever made this was huge and I just hope it isn't here anymore. Maybe the wraiths roasted it up and ate it at a feast or something. I got an uneasy twinge when I thought of the wraiths and a paranoid thought crossed my mind. Would they be able to find me if I thought about them too much? Could Lord sense me when I thought of him?

The fact that I mutilated him probably has changed his mind a little about wanting to marry me. Most likely he has a vendetta against me now and is out for blood. Well, he would be if he wasn't blind and most likely being treated for popped eyeballs. I was about to make the decision to never think of him again, when I heard a low rumbling noise. It got louder, the ground began to move and my body suddenly felt very cold. Total deer in the headlights moment.

I started to stagger backwards. I tripped over something and fell on my butt. I felt something hard and slightly sticky under my hand. I chanced a look at it. There was a skeleton with a couple tendons and patches of blood on it, just like I had expected. This is not my day. . .come to think of it, my life for the last really long while has been less than pleasing.

A huge head came into view. It was reptilian to say the least, but it wasn't a snake. I could already see about 10 legs. I'm really getting sick of all these weird monsters. I thought of the insects that had accosted me before my run in with Lord and held back a shudder. The creature didn't seem to know how to react to me. It had stopped as soon as it saw me and was staring at me cocking its head from one side to the other. That gives the impression of an intellect. It's trying to figure out what it should do. I crawled backwards slowly and unthreateningly as I could (not that I could be threatening to something like that) for a few moments. The leviathan slowly slither-walked forward, sniffing the air with its nose, and tasting it with its tongue. Ok, that's just weird. A bit much if you ask me. I mean come on, pick one or the other!

I felt the sun on me and chanced a partial glance up. I was directly under the entrance of the hole. I was hoping that, since this creature looked strictly subterranean, I could crawl out of the opening and it wouldn't pursue me for very long if at all. It started to come towards me faster. Forget crawling, I'm going to jump. I curled my legs under me and knelt there for a moment. When I felt the time was right I kicked my legs out and propelled myself up out of the hole towards what I was hoping to be safety. I began to fall and my natural instinct was to look down at where I was falling.

Gravity was throwing me down towards a huge mouth full of glistening slimy teeth. Oh shit. I really wish I had a set of wings right now, but unfortunately, I don't. This is going to be really horrid. I plummeted down closer and closer to the gaping maw. I closed my eyes thinking that maybe it would make it less crappy when I was ingested if I couldn't see my body slowly dissolving. When I landed on the creatures teeth my eyes snapped open. Maybe I'm not meant to die right now. I hopped off the teeth and ran as fast as I could as soon as I hit the ground. The creature roared in anger and disappeared under ground once again. That's something I never want to come across again. That one or anything slightly resembling it.

Just an hour later I was staggering through the swamp wishing that I was anywhere else. The humidity was matting my fur, the insects were swarming around me and biting my ears. Everything from my knees down was scratched up and bleeding due to the thorny vines I kept having to walk through. This is the pits. I would rather be on Lau'thalus getting accosted by a trainer. At least then I wouldn't have the chance of being swallowed whole and I would be sure to recieve medical attention after being desimated.

My mind wandered back to my old trainer. Gor'tok really wasn't so bad until I remembered who I had been. . .silly me thinking that could have worked. It would have been just like Ya'uta and I because I can't seem to keep my temper under control. I'm a dip shit.

I found a cave that was rather small, I could fit into it if I curled up. I closed my eyes to rest for a while if that was possible. My defenses are starting to break down and my mind seems to be semi cloudy. Traveling in this state could be detrimental to my health if I have anymore run-ins with big scary things.

My eyes opened to a set of gleaming teeth. Not this again. I kicked my feet out and sent the teeth tumbling backwards with whatever they were attached to. It let out a loud squeal and then a sound like a weeping woman. My hackles raised and I crawled out of the hole to face my attacker. The creature, a large porcupine like thing with 6 legs, started to back away from me.

"I didn't mean to frighten you."

I reeled in surprise at this sudden understandable vocalization. This is dumbfounding. Nothing on this planet makes sense. It seems like everything that should be isn't and what isn't is. It's almost completely backwards. I pressed my palms into my eyes and took a deep breath. Sponge Guy chortled at me and I glanced at him. He squirmed around for a moment. I need to calm down. I think my emotions are too much for him and are having a bad effect. Either that or I screwed up by taking him off that planet where I found him. I conentrated on breathing calmly for a few moments. When I felt I was properly composed I looked at the weird creature.

"Uh. . .it's ok?"

"What were you doing in there?"

"Sleeping."

"It isn't safe in there."

"Because things like you can get to me?"

"No, because other things can. I don't wish you harm. I heard you blinded Lord and that endears you to me and my kind."

I almost started to breathe hard again. Not only does this weird thing speak, it speaks eloquently and that is really scary to me for some reason.

"Word gets around fast."

"He came to our world and destroyed it. My kind is almost totally extinct because of him."

"Hence the reason I'm endeared to you and your kind for it."

"Yes. Come with me and I will lead you to a safe place."

I decided that it wouldn't hurt to go with him. If I get eaten or molested by a bunch of giant porcupines, it doesn't matter! I'm not giving a fuck about much right now, as long as I don't have to deal with Lord ever, it's all fine and dandy. We traveled for a while in silence. We crested a hill about an hour later. I was thinking this creature just wanted to walk me to death when he looked at me and seemed to kind of smile in a weird way.

"Here we are, home sweet home."

What I saw was most definitely not what I was expecting.


	11. Old Friends

There were about a dozen spacecrafts encircling a central tower built out of mud, sticks, and other debris. The spacecrafts seemed ancient, no way they would function now. I hesitantly followed the porcupine like thing down the hill towards the little village type area. I saw about 40 or 50 other porcupine like creatures here and there. I'm definitely outnumbered.

"Come on, you don't have to be so cautious."

I don't have to be, but I am. We walked to the center of the village and everyone gathered around me. I was surrounded by long sharp teeth and spiny projectiles. Not a fun place to be.

"Hi. . ."

I eyed everyone and decided that the best way to get out if I needed to would be to try and jump as far up the tower as possible and then make my way into the trees on the other side of the village. Hey. . .it never hurts to have a contingency plan, right? I wasn't paying attention to what was being said, I was watching body language and trying to read what was in their eyes. I'm usually not this paranoid or wary. I think the wraiths really screwed me up. I feel like everything is a trap and everyone is out to get me now. And I'm usually so good at making friends.

Right then and there is when I decided that blinding Lord wasn't good enough. I have to completely destroy him if I'm ever going to feel safe again.

"I have to go now."

"You just arrived."

"I know, but I have to go kill Lord."

Their expressions were easy to read now. Total shock, perhaps dismay. It was a long walk and I didn't have a very long time to get there, kill him and make it back to the rendezvous point. I didn't want to be late or I would be shit out of luck.

"What if he kills you?"

"I'll be dead, but at least I didn't run away. I hate running away from a fight I know I can win."

My original porcupine creature friend was trotting along beside me now. He didn't seem to want me to leave. Maybe they were planning on eating me after all. Sorry to spoil your dinner plans guys, but I have a blind dude to kill.

"If you succeed we will be eternally grateful to you."

"I imagine everyone on this planet will be, maybe even some of the wraiths. I can't imagine Lord has many friends."

"If you die we will honor your memory."

"Seems like a win-win situation for me."

"What is your name?"

I thought about it for a couple minutes. Do I want to be remembered as Lena, or my new pseudonym, Naui? I suppose since Lord was calling me Lena, I should stick to that. Stick to my original name, the name that Ya'uta had always known me by. That son of a bitch.

"Lena."

"I will never forget it."

"Even if you did, that would be all right."

I left him in my dust a moment later when I started sprinting. Like I said before, this is a long trip and I don't have time. I don't like being considered a hero for anything. I've done too many horrible things. It is those things I should be remembered for, not the occasional good deed I do once in a while. That isn't enough to cover up the shame or undo the damage I have caused. I really am an insensitive bastard.

After stashing the box and Sponge Guy in a crevice I thought would be safe until I got back, if I got back, I high tailed it to the wraith city. I snuck into the ventilation that serviced the main complex that I had last seen Lord in. Where he had last seen. . .at all. I wanted to laugh at that, but it would most likely be heard by someone. I was crawling my way over a room when the vent crashed out from under me and I hit the floor, face first. I jumped up, ready for a fight. I took a look around and realized no one in the room was capable of fighting me. Half of the creatures were dead or dying and the other half were restrained. This must be the science lab. At least one of them. I saw the Dagon bound to the table in the center of the room. I pressed my paw to my head to try and obstruct the bleeding at least a little while I walked over. He looked up at me and frowned.

"What are you doing here? I thought they killed you."

"That's funny, I was just thinking the same thing, only you were the dead one."

"Not yet."

"I can see that. What were they doing to you?"

"Implanting organs for me to incubate. They think that my blood will make them function better."

"Will it?"

"I don't know."

"I see. You wouldn't by any chance know where Lord would be right now, would you?"

"No. Why?"

"I'm going to go kill him because of my paranoid delusions. I'm pretty sure they are being caused by him and I think that if he's dead, I can relax for at least a minute."

"Oh."

"Thanks for the lack of help. It was nice talking to you again. Good luck with those organs."

I started to walk out of the room.

"Hey!"

I stopped and looked back at him.

"What?"

"Could you at least untie me?"

"As long as you don't follow me. I don't need you slowing me down or getting in my way."

"No offense, but I don't want anything to do with you."

"How am I supposed to not take offense to that?"

"I don't know."

I took the straps off his wrists quickly and left the room. Not much time left, have to kill, need to kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. I stalked down the corridors relying more on scents and sounds than visuals. Most likely by chance, just a few moments later I heard Lord's unmistakable voice floating down the hall. I slammed myself against the wall and crouched down. I inched my head towards the corner until I could see around it. Lord wasn't in sight, but there was a room with an open door a few feet away. If I'm quiet enough, I can walk right up to him and rip his head off before he notices anything.

I walked silently around the corner, into the room, and right into a trap. Lord was looking right at me, with eyes mind you, when the bars impaled me and anchored me to the wall. One through my stomach, and the other two through each shoulder. I roared at Lord and he laughed.

"That look on your face was priceless. I'm going to remember that always."

I imagine my expression could have maybe been amusing to a party, other than myself, but this is total bullshit. This was supposed to be a simple in and out mission. I guess he really can sense me when I think about him.

"I just don't know if I should kill you now, or have as fun with you as I can before you break."

I growled and bared my teeth at him with my ears pinned back to my head.

"I think I want to break you. It would be a feat. You really did have me fooled the last time, but now I know all your tricks. You wont get away with that again."

The bars retracted and I fell to my knees, feeling sick and dizzy. I have a feeling I'm going to miss the rendezvous, god damnit.

The next week was hell. Lord made sure I was put through every kind of torture imaginable. I understood, he had a point to prove. I had gone against him and knew that anyone or anything that did that would have to be destroyed or Lord wouldn't have as much power. There might be a mutiny of sorts and he could be overthrown. I'm pissed off as all hell that he is doing this to me again, but I can see why. He is doing what I would do in this situation. Reason number. . .whatever, I lost count of all the reasons he needs to die.

He walked into the room where I had been for the last few hours with a power drill like tool burrowing into my brain. It was just now breaking through my skull after 6 hours. Lord smiled.

"You look like you are absolutely despising that."

"Do you mind? I'm waiting for it to start scrambling signals."

He squinted his eyes at me. He waved his hand at one of his cronies, a new one since I had killed his old ones, and the machine was turned off. Lord knelt down so he was eye level with me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say his eyes grew back. They look exactly the same.

"Wraiths can regenerate if that's what you're wondering."

"Get the fuck out of my brain, pig face."

He scowled at me elbowed me in the throat. He knew the secret to being able to hurt me. My body breaks down if I don't get food or sleep. He's doing a very good job of depriving me of both.

"I'll ask you one last time. Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"You've got to be kidding! I mutilated you, and you're still on that marriage tirade? What the fuck is wrong in your brain?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

"You're damn right. You have way too many problems."

"In that case. I'm going to have to kill you now."

I thought back for a moment and realized that choice of words wasn't the best. I should have gone for compliant instead of defiant. I need a rewind button.

I was drug into another chamber and Lord himself grabbed the back of my neck and led me to a ledge. I looked down into a pit with the "obligatory" spikes at the bottom. What a way to go. . .

"I'll miss you Lena."

"Hey, if you don't kill me, then you wont have to miss me."

"I don't think so."

There it was, and there I went down into the pit. The spikes rushed up to say 'HI YOU'RE DEAD!' and I closed my eyes.


	12. Freaky

There are so many things that can go through your mind in the few seconds before death. It just so happened that what went through my mind wasn't of any importance at all. Or at least it didn't seem that way.

I was sitting on the front porch of my mothers house. It was the summer I turned 7 and had decided that I was going to be a serial killer when I grew up. The sky was overcast and I was doodling in my sketchbook. My mother was on the phone with someone in the living room. I shouldn't have been able to hear her, but of course that didn't stop me. I could even hear the voice on the other end. It was a man's voice and he sounded disgruntled.

'You shouldn't waste your time on that girl. She isn't your responsibility.' My mother made a noise of disgust and retorted rather well with, 'If I don't take responsibility for her, no one will.'

I thought that would end the conversation right there, but it continued. 'She isn't right. You know that. There is something wrong with her, why doesn't she get sick or hurt? Why does she seem like she always knows what is going on? Just dump her somewhere and we can have our life together. You don't have to take care of her.'

My mother, or the woman that I had thought to be my mother up until the man had mentioned I wasn't her responsibility, sighed and I heard her fingers being tapped on the coffee table. 'Beleth would never forgive me if I didn't abide by his wishes.'

My eyes snapped open and it just so happened that I wasn't dead. I had contorted myself in such a way that none of the spikes had even scratched me. That was an amazing unconscious feat. I had the upper hand at the moment, so I took the advantage and leapt straight at Lord. I took him down easily since he was walking away. What a fool not to watch me actually die. I started wrenching his head from side to side and twisting his neck. He was screaming in panic and probably pain. I heard the vertebra disconnect and the squelching noise as his skin tore. I slammed his head onto the ground and stomped my foot through it.

"The only way to kill him is to destroy his ring."

I roared and tumbled backwards when I heard that. I looked at the source and saw the Dagon leaning in the doorway. I lifted up Lord's hand and saw a silver ring with a huge purple gem that was glowing and pulsing. I looked at the ring, then at the Dagon, then back to the ring. I pulled Lord's dagger out of the sheath and plunged the tip down into the ring. I heard a horrific shriek and then it completely exploded showering me with purple, glowing, glitter. I dropped the dagger and watched Lord's body dissolve. I looked at the Dagon and nodded in gratitude. He turned and walked away.

I looked down at my hands and blinked a few times. They were hands again. I put my hand to my head and felt what I hadn't for at least a decade. I had hair and skin again. My lip twitched and I looked down at the rest of me. Just as I thought, I was completely naked. My eyes fell on Lord's clothes. They'll just have to do for now.

What the hell is going on? Why am I suddenly back in my original form? I liked the claws, the tail, the teeth, the ears, everything. This is very disappointing. I walked down the corridor for a while trying to figure out what I was going to do about getting off this planet. I have to retrieve Sponge Guy and my box before I go anywhere. That's if I can get away from here. I was so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed I was being passed by other wraiths, but they weren't paying me any mind. I stopped and looked back at two wraiths that had just walked past me. If I had been in 'cat form' they would most definitely have recognized me. I'm really getting sick of my body knowing when to do certain things, but I don't know why it does it until it's already done. I would like to have at least a little control. Maybe just the illusion of control over my own body.

I exited the building and walked through the city totally unhindered. Directly in front of me was a space port. There were ships all over the place, all sizes of skiffs and cruisers and transporters. I wonder if I could sneak in there and steal one sometime tonight. I wont know if I don't try, right? After surveying the area and getting it sealed in my mind where the hangar was located in retrospect to everything else, I went to get my little sidekick and the stupid device that still hasn't done me any good.

The forest was dark and full of nighttime noises that were only slightly less eerie than the shapes I kept picking out among the trees and bushes. I kept telling myself that I was immune to everything, that I would be fine, and that all I needed to do was to make haste. I ended up running manically through the trees as fast as I could with knees that bent the opposite way then I had become accustomed to. I finally came to the tree where I had stashed Sponge Guy. He made a strange noise at me when he saw me.

"I know, I look funny again, don't I?"

He chortled in a way that made me think that appearances to him didn't matter, at least mine. That made me feel better about myself and I put him on my shoulder, then tucked the box under my arm and inside the sleeve of Lord's cloak.

"Ok, we can finally get off this pauking planet."

I tripped over a vine and as I caught myself I realized I had used the word 'pauking'. It's pretty strange that after all this time never once uttering a word in the Yautja language, to say that now. Especially considering the form my body is in right now was the only one the yautja ever saw. It was this form that Ya'uta saw me in. He didn't know about my lynx like form at all.

I snuck into the hangar and looked around at all the skiffs. I toured them, checked out the controls, fiddled with dials. The 4th one I got in was the best. I decided to just take this one. It wasn't necessary to go through all of them and risk being caught messing around in here. If they realized I wasn't one of them, I would be in trouble. I fired up the ship very fast and took off out of there even faster. I burned as hard as I could for as long as I could. I crossed into the next universe before slowing down. I have to hand it to the wraiths, they sure know how to make a ship that can go really far without needing a fuel refill.

I was scanning through the planet database getting aggravated when a thought crossed my mind. Not so much crossed as grabbed it and body slammed it.

"Who the fuck is Beleth and what does he have to do with me?"

My fake mother had mentioned that name on the phone. Maybe that memory wasn't totally random and meaningless. Maybe I should find this Beleth person. He could give me actual answers to things. He would know what I was, where I came from and what I'm meant to do in my life. Maybe he can show me what I'm supposed to look like so I can stop changing forms all the time.

"The question is, where do I find Beleth?"

The database started switching from planet to planet all on its own rapidly for a few minutes. It suddenly stopped on a planet with no name, no information, nothing. My ship started to turn all on its own and head there. Ok, I guess Beleth has found me and is leading me to him?

I parked my skiff on a large, red, flat, boulder and opened the hatch so I could get out. I told Sponge Guy to guard the skiff while I was gone. He nodded and I closed the hatch so he would be safe from things that might eat him. I've learned to expect anything on planets I've never been to. Waiting for a few moments to be attacked by giant insects, or maybe being pulled underground by a snake centipede thing, I remained tense and alert. Nothing happened and I took this as a sign that I can proceed. I did see a few insects, but they were the proper size and weren't bothering me.

I came to a lake with crystal clear water. I knelt down and cupped some water in my hands. I was in the process of swallowing a gulp when a form of a man appeared behind me. I inhaled and choked on the water. I got to my feet and swung around to face the man. He didn't seem to have an expression on his face at first. Then his eyes lit up and he smiled. I realized he had a very fatherly face and aura about him.

"Lena. . .you're all grown up."

"You. . .are. . .Beleth?"

"Yes. I haven't seen you since you were a tiny baby. You're beautiful."

I studied his face for a few minutes. He had the same nose as me, his ears were shaped the same and his eyes were a similar color. I frowned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I just need to know some things."

"Of course. Let's go somewhere where we can sit comfortably and catch up."


	13. Tea Time

_**A/N: Ahh, here we are again. In the following chapter I will be reintroducing a character. I'm not going to say who it is now, but treat them nicely. . .**_

_**And just to let everybody know, I'm pretty much writing this story for StormRaven333 because she cares! So here's to you Storm!**_

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I brushed a small spider like insect from the arm of my cloak, then looked at Beleth. He took a sip of tea and as he set the saucer down he caught my eyes in his loving stare. He looked at me for a few more minutes before speaking. I could tell he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"You want to know what you are, don't you?"

I nodded to him and waited for what seemed like an eternity for an answer. The look on his face let me know beforehand I was probably going to dislike the answer a great deal.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. I myself don't know. I found you when you were a few days old under that tree right there."

He pointed to an old blackened willow tree behind me. The tree itself seemed foreboding.

"You looked different then. White hair and eyes, I suppose you assimilated to the humans when you arrived in their world.

"Why did you leave me there with them?"

"I felt you would be safer. I was preparing to lead an army into battle, and that is no place to try and raise an infant. I was much younger then as well, I hadn't the slightest idea how to care for you."

"Humans are the stupidest race in the multiverse, anyplace with them is a bad place for a non human.

He grinned slightly and took another sip of tea. I didn't find the situation funny however, and didn't feel much for a tea party.

"I'm glad you mentioned that."

He had been glancing at the old gnarled tree behind me ever since he had pointed it out to me. I kept wondering what he could possibly be looking at, but didn't feel like acting paranoid by looking back at the tree.

"I was wondering if you could do me a slight favor."

I thought about that for a moment. He had dumped me on a planet so I could stagnate, and yet now he's asking me for a favor. On the other hand, he had done it to save my life, or at least that was his intention. On the other hand. I shook my head. I only have two hands!

"If it isn't too time consuming."

"The humans have set up a small settlement on Orpheous and I wondered if you could drop someone off there for me."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I'm going to be indisposed for the better part of a year starting at dawn. I simply wouldn't have the time to go there and get back."

I sighed. I still don't know any more about what I am, where I came from, or anything of importance, but now I'm off to run an errand that involves a human settlement.

"Fine."

He smiled at me again.

"Good, good. Lena, I would like you to meet Adrasta."

I swung around and there was a girl standing right behind me. I jumped up and that caused my chair to topple over. She stepped back calmly before it bashed her shins. She must have been in that damned tree, that's what Beleth was looking at.

"Holy shit. Don't do that."

She kicked the back of the chair and it righted itself.

"Sorry."

Her voice had no inflection in it whatsoever. I looked at her bright green and black hair, her white eyes and frowned. I recognize her.

"You. . ."

She raised and eyebrow and waited for me to finish my sentence. I decided to change it.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. Someone might end up spearing you."

"Might be less boring than sitting around here all day."

She sat down in the spare chair and started tracing her finger through the dust on the table. I couldn't believe my eyes. This girl had lived this long? I remembered her from the time she had tried to attack me with a paring knife. I thought she was going to die of starvation long before now. I had been the one to give her the news that the humans were mostly gone. I doubt she knew it was me though, I wasn't in this form at the time. That was back when I was partnered with. . .Fahu. . .

"Something wrong Lena?"

I realized I was still staring at the girl with shock.

"No, nothing. I suppose we should be going now though. Don't want to get into all the traffic on Orpheous, I'm going to have to sneak her in as well, you know how they are there."

I resisted slamming my hand over my mouth. I need to stop blathering on. Am I feeling guilty for leaving her there? If I had known that I would be playing taxi to her later on, would I have still left her there? Most likely. Does that make it right? I really can't say.

She morosely stood up, if it's even possible, and strode after me as I walked to my ship. Beleth walked with us most of the way and I was glad for that. It's going to be awkward during my one on one time with this girl. Beleth was telling her how to behave around the humans, like she forgot or something. Told her to send him a postcard, write him while he was away, etc, etc. I was about to start panicking. I took a deep breath and thought about anything other than the long flight it was to Orpheous from here. It would take at least a week. I was suddenly damning the humans for having settled on a planet so far away from my current location.

We got on my ship and I took another deep breath as the door closed. She looked at Sponge Guy and he looked back at her with the same expression that made me think he was just as unimpressed with her. She wasn't impressed by anything apparently. Sponge Guy looked at me pleadingly. I know Sponge Guy, I don't want her here either. This is just very weird.

I was expecting her to try and talk to me, but she seemed more than occupied twirling a piece of hair around her finger and staring blankly at the wall. I powered up and we took off without so much as a peep out of her.

A full day passed without incident, until we were flying by a planet that the database stated as being called 'Pyron', when my ship started whining and the engine sputtered a few times.

"Oh yes, just like it was last time."

Hearing that just to the left of me made me jump. She sure had a way of sneaking about.

"Last time? What are you talking about?"

"Ships make those noises before they crash."

"You were in a crash?"

"Mmhmm. It was really bad too. I was the only survivor."

She laughed, but even that lacked emotion.

"I don't' know why I'm telling you this."

"When I'm nervous I open up too. Nothing to worry about."

"That's not what I meant."

"Ok. .. Then what are you talking about?"

"You already know I was in a crash, that I was the only survivor."

"I don't know anything about you."

"Pretend that if you like 'Naui'."


	14. It's That Time Again

I jammed my hand down on the control panel a little harder than I would have liked when she said that. How the hell would she be able to recognize me? I was covered in fur, had a tail for fuck's sake. . .

"If I was in my right mind, I wouldn't have attacked you so blatantly. It would have been stealthy. Just a simple matter of severing your carotid artery while you were rummaging through the garbage."

The hair on the back of my neck was standing up just because of the calm way she was stating this. It was very matter of fact. A definite sign of insanity, in the least mental illness. Most serial killers state things similarly. I slowly turned around to look at her after I set the ship to land on Pyron for a fuel up. I wondered how long she had been living among the wreckage there before Fahu and I came to take everything of value and leave her for dead.

"Look, I'm really sorry about leaving you there, all right? I had other things to take care of."

"Like getting Fahu killed."

I flashed a glare at her as we landed. I stormed out of my ship after slamming things around unnecessarily. I hate mind readers! Not much else in the 'verse pisses me off to the extent that someone digging around in my head does. I started to fuel up my ship and worked on taking my mind off of anything she could use against me later. I don't know how brainwaves travel. Could she pick up on it if I was on the other side of a wall?

I turned my head to the left and saw a large form limping towards me. My heart stopped beating for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. The cloaked figure stopped at a fountain and pulled its hood back. My heart started beating again. It was an old gerullian, that's all. I leaned against my ship and closed my eyes. Not a good time to be thinking about the past. It seems to be coming back to me. Stupid girl.

"You're broadcasting now."

I punched the spaceship to get her to shut up.

The ship was fueled and I was at my wits end. Adrasta was sitting with her back to the wall staring up at the ceiling reciting the human dictionary and also giving me every synonym and antonym for every word. It was better than her talking about all the different ways she could kill me before I realized what had happened. At least she wasn't directly talking to me. I can handle that. Sponge Guy was pacing back and forth in front of me on the control panel making sure I was aware of his annoyance with the girl. I ran my hand along his back for a good five minutes trying to comfort him, but he wasn't having it.

I closed my eyes and drifted off. If she really wants to kill me, it wont matter if I'm awake or asleep, at least the way she talks about it. What is Ya'uta doing anyway? I imagine he's still alive. If I wasn't able to kill him by near evisceration, I'm pretty sure he's all right. I want to stop thinking about how downtrodden and sad he looked at our last meeting. I can't get the look in his eyes out of my head.

"Lena. Lena wake up."

"What?"

Adrasta pointed to a screen on my control panel. I saw a face on it. A very unfriendly face.

"You will be happy in the knowledge it took every resource I had to find you."

I blinked a few times. This was not possible. Ok, so it's possible apparently, but this is really horrible.

"I'm sorry?"

I covered the screen and looked back at Adrasta.

"How long has he been on that screen?"

"For about 5 minutes. He wasn't content with hearing about the proper technique for gutting sturgeon."

"I can't imagine why."

I turned back to the screen and looked into the angry eyes of an old, grumpy, crab-faced yautja.

"I thought we resolved this a long time ago Gi'gush."

"You shouldn't trust yourself to think."

Adrasta poked her head into his view.

"I agree fully."

I put my hand on her forehead and shoved her away.

"That doesn't help."

She walked over and started prodding at Sponge Guy. Can't leave her alone for a moment, god damn. I hit a few buttons to see what was going on. The yautja ship was right behind mine and it was armed with a whole bunch of really nasty things.

"We're locked onto you. There is nowhere to go. I would suggest you land and we fight."

"Hah. Why would I want to do that?"

"Otherwise I'll blow your skiff up."

I sighed. I suppose that is a good reason.

"All right. We'll do this face to face."

I ended the communication and steered the ship towards the nearest planet. This was not something I was expecting.

Adrasta seemed to be in higher spirits after hearing about my upcoming duel.

"I'll be your second if you want."

"I don't want you to, it doesn't work that way with them, and you're staying on the ship out of my way."

She scoffed and sat back down. I strolled off the ship and looked around. I was surrounded by at least 15 Yautja. I couldn't run into the trees for cover, I couldn't fly away, and I wasn't sure I could beat Gi'gush in a duel. I walked towards him until I was about 8 feet away.

"Took you a long time to find me. I'm a little disappointed in your abilities. I always thought you were omniscient, but I suppose you're just as blind as the rest of us."

He growled at me from behind his highly adorned mask. I guess he still doesn't like being insulted. I saw a huge patch of scar tissue on his left side that seemed to engulf the entirety of it. That must be where the blast from the canon hit him, or at least skimmed him. I knew I should have stuck around to make sure he was dead. His head slightly turned to the side and I followed his gaze. Adrasta was pacing with a stick held out in front of her like a sword. She stopped at a tree and started knocking on it, then pressed her ear to it.

"What is she doing?"

"I honestly don't know. She's insane."

I watched her repeat this for about five more minutes. She was good for a slight distraction. At least Gi'gush isn't trying to kill me right now. She knocked on one tree twice, looked in my direction, and when she found me she gave me a thumbs up and started whacking the tree really hard with the stick. I pressed my fingers to my temples and let out a groan. I would like to be a little less stressed when I die.

I turned to Gi'gush again. I'm pretty sure he was trying to decide whether he wanted to take Adrasta away somewhere and punish her for being weird. He's like that after all. He pulled out his spear and extended it to its full length.

"Choose a weapon."

"I'll take a spear too."

One of the other yautja tossed me a spear and I fiddled with it for a few moments before it extended. I dropped it when it did so it wouldn't go through my eye. As soon as I picked it up again Gi'gush let out his roar to let me know he was attacking.

He swung hard with the spear and I just barely deflected it. I was knocked off balance and staggered to the side. I rolled over to dodge the spear as he thrust it at me. I swung the spear and managed to sweep his feet out from under him. I flipped backwards and got to my feet again. We were getting closer to the place where Adrasta was still banging at the tree with her stick. Gi'gush shouted something to one of the other yautja. He took out his knife and threw it at Adrasta.

"No!"

The knife missed her and imbedded itself in the tree right in front of her face. She looked at it and then at the yautja that threw it at her. She gave him a thumbs up and pulled the knife out. She started digging at the tree. It wasn't as distracting as the loud clacking, so Gi'gush allowed it. I thrust my spear at him and managed to graze his ribcage. He roared in anger and brought his spear down. It went through my shoulder and pinned me to the ground. He followed this with a swipe by his wrist blades that nearly severed my head from my body. I grabbed my throat, but the world was already going black.


	15. Good Luck With That

I thought I heard a lot of commotion as I fell to the ground. I wasn't sure what was being said. I wasn't hearing anything that made sense. It sounded like rushing water and then screaming, then a fairly loud explosion. I felt the ground tremble, but that could have just been my death throes.

My eyes opened to Adrasta's face. She was looming over me with a blank look on her face.

"What the hell happened?"

"We left."

"What do you mean, we left?"

"After the yautja ship blew up, we left. You didn't feel like hanging around until they realized what was going on."

"Right. . ."

That is how I would do things. Why the hell don't I remember it? Adrasta crumpled to the floor and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"I've never seen one you know."

"One what?"

"A yautja. Their bodies are gorgeous, demeanor, not very appealing."

"You're telling me. I had to live with them, I was stalked by one for a while. . ."

I rolled over to get away from that memory, but when I closed my eyes, I could see his face as it was before I scarred it so badly. I started banging my head against the wall to get that image out of my head. When all the lights on my ship flickered off and then back on I hopped up and looked around. Adrasta was just sitting calmly twirling her hair. The vacancy behind her eyes is so freaky because I know there is always something going through her mind. I can tell that about her.

My ship turned all on its own, as I watched a large green planet swing into view, I had a foreboding feeling. It happens often, but that feeling has never been wrong.

"What are you doing ship? You're being just as difficult as the wraiths were."

"Weird things they are."

I halfway glanced in Adrasta's direction, but was a little more interested in why we were going to be landing on this planet. I couldn't think of a single reason. It wasn't even close to Orpheous and I just fueled up. Adrasta was suddenly sitting in the copilot chair watching the ground get closer. I could see it reflected in her freaky eyes.

"Why are your eyes white?"

"Lack of pigment in the iris. I suppose it's just a weird defect."

"Right. . ."

My ship landed and completely powered down. The door opened by itself as well. I didn't like the fact my ship seems to have just gained a mind of its own. Adrasta was up and out the door already. I looked at Sponge Guy.

"I knew I should have shut her in the cargo hold."

I set Sponge Guy on my shoulder because it would be really good to have an extra set of eyes on this planet. I saw Adrasta skipping through the trees and I quickly followed her. I'm not sure Beleth would know if I had lost Adrasta, but the fact that my ship knew exactly where to go to find him. . .I'm not going to risk it. I was trotting along not really worrying about my surrounding, which I should have been because I was tackled from the side by a giant black something. My immediate response was to go for the neck. I heard a yell and turned to see where it had come from. Adrasta was standing on a branch yelling something at the big black creature that was attacking me. I wasn't expecting her plan to work, but it forgot about me and got ready to jump at her. I went for its tail because I was pretty sure Adrasta hadn't thought ahead to the part where it attacked her and killed her. I missed, of course, and the thing. . .that I had seen somewhere before. . . .

It's a Kiande Amedha. . .

"Adrasta!"

She let out a short cry as the thing leapt at her. She managed to duck just before it hit her. The creature landed in a tangle of vines. It was about to attack again, but the vines ensnared it and started to pull it towards a large flower with teeth. I watched as the kiande amedha was decapitated by the plant, but the blood that sprayed the flower caused it to start sizzling and screaming. Adrasta lost her balance on the branch she was now crouching on and landed next to the flower.

"Get away from that!"

She crawled as fast as she could towards me and ducked under my legs as we were completely surrounded by Kiande Amedha. I wrapped my arms around Adrasta's head as she smashed her face into my stomach. I didn't know what else to do except not let her watch them kill her. I closed my eyes and tried to shut everything out. The ground started shaking a moment later and I heard panicked hisses come from what would be our killers. I dared to open my eyes after the shaking stopped. They were gone.

"Earthquake."

"Yeah, I guess. Great timing for that."

Adrasta stood up again and ran her fingers through her hair to fix it. I suppose I had really clamped down on her head for a moment. We headed back to my ship to see if it would allow us to leave.

No such luck. It refused to power up, but the navigation system was blinking at me. I flipped the switch and a blip appeared on the radar. I put on the helmet that had been stored in a niche under the console. I linked it up with the radar on my ship and flipped the single eye cover down. After grabbing a bag with some emergency supplies in it, I stepped towards the door of the ship and looked at Adrasta.

"Shall we?"

"Would be a shame if we didn't die."

I shook my head as we set off. Adrasta stuck close behind me which I was thankful for. I don't want her running headlong into a swarm of hard meats. That most likely wouldn't go over well with Beleth. The question is, why do I care?

The signal led us to an old ship that seemed to have crashed. It had definitely seen better days.

"I hate being under the control of something."

Adrasta, to my utter amazement, didn't have any sort of comment. I didn't recognize the ship. It didn't seem like anything I had ever seen. It was a dark orange and shaped like a giant scythe. I looked to my left to see what Adrasta's reaction to it was, but she was already headed inside. I ran after her. The inside of the ship wasn't in much better shape than the exterior. I took a few flares out of the bag and lit a couple. I dropped them along the corridor we followed for what seemed like at least 5 minutes. Adrasta seemed to know where she was going, but that wouldn't make any sense whatsoever since this ship looked like it crashed about two decades before she was even born. We finally came to a door.

I pried it open and held Adrasta back from going inside.

"I'll go in first, ok?"

She slowly nodded. I stepped in and lit a couple flared which I tossed into the dark recesses of the room. They lit up a few mummified corpses here and there. The corpses looked human and like they had died in extreme agony. Adrasta walked in, I was going to tell her not to look, but it was too late. She surveyed the area.

"Oh yes. . .this makes sense."

I waited for her to continue, but she offered nothing else. I decided to pry.

"What makes sense?"

"These humans were being transported when the ship crashed. The beings that were taking them must have gassed them when the ship crashed. Better to have dead cargo than let them run around."

I felt myself gaping at her. Her total lack of compassion for her fellow man was still coming as a bit of a shock to me. Even I was upset when Brody and Jack were killed, and I'm not one of them.

"I just wonder who was doing the transporting and if they are still on this planet somewhere."

"No. They were picked up."

Adrasta touched the face of one of the mummies and some of what used to be skin crumbled off. I heard a loud clang come from somewhere else in the ship and swung around with an unlit flare in hand. I listened for any other sounds. After about five minutes I was satisfied that it was just a freak occurrence. I turned back around and Adrasta was adjusting a glove. She had donned a sleeveless black coat, a pair of baggy black pants and a pair of boots that looked like they were meant for stomping on things you really wanted dead.

"Why would anyone wants spikes on the bottom of their boots?"

"I suppose for the same reason they wanted their gloves to do this."

She flicked her wrist back and a knife shot out of the wrist of it. I didn't really feel comfortable with her having knives in her gloves, but if we run into something, at least she'll look semi intimidating. I do wonder if Beleth taught her anything about self defense at all.

I was about to say something else when I heard a louder clang. I swung around and looked. There was definitely something right outside the door. It was a large black thing, sniffing at the flare just outside the door. I willed it not to look into the room. Too bad that never works for me. I was going to get rid of it when the door slammed shut and I heard a hissing coming from the vents. The room started to get cloudy.


	16. Fate is a Bitch

I started choking and hacking and coughing and all that fun stuff as blood shot from my throat. Now I know why these people looked so pained. I heard a loud thud to my left and started to turn my head, but even the slight motion of that caused more blood to pour out of my throat, into my lungs and out my nose at the same time.

I felt arms around me a moment later and then sunlight. That didn't make any sense. I opened my eyes and looked around. We were outside of the ship. I looked back towards my, could have been (should have been), tomb. There was a large hole in the side of the ship. Adrasta sat next to me while I recovered. My throat eventually stopped bleeding and healed up after about 20 minutes.

"How did you do that?"

"Metal deteriorates after a while. These boots were a good idea."

"I suppose I can see a use for them now. Maybe I should find myself a pair."

Adrasta pulled a pair of boots just like hers from behind her and set them in front of me.

"Thought you would say that."

"You're a creepy fuck, you know that?"

She almost smiled as she shrugged. We sat there for a couple more minutes. I finished tying my boot and stood up. I really wanted to get off this planet, but I have a feeling that we haven't done what we came here to do. The blip was still there, it wasn't coming from the ship as I had first thought.

We didn't talk at all as we walked through the woods. We probably had the same idea. We should listen and look around. I don't know how the kiande amedha got onto this planet and I don't know how many there are, but I do know that none of that matters. They are too much for us to handle right now. I seem to have lost most of my strength and it seems like all of my invulnerability, again. . .

We crested a hill and I saw a large complex in the clearing below. I'm pretty sure whatever is calling to my headset is in there. I just have a feeling. It took us about an hour to reach the huge doors that were slightly ajar. That makes it easier to get in. Adrasta wasted no time in stepped through and disappearing into the gloom. I set off a couple more flares and dropped them at the entrance. Once again I was in a dark corridor. I've had about enough of these for the day.

I spotted Adrasta a few yards ahead of me. She was messing with a power box. I was about to scold her for it, but suddenly lights all up and down the corridor started coming on. A few gave a couple pathetic pops and the bulbs exploded, but most of them held steady. She looked at me and we followed the corridor, occasionally peeking into rooms to see if there was anything of interest in them. My headset was getting louder and I figured as soon as we got to the center of the complex, I would finally know what the hell was going on. I've been known to be wrong though. . .

It got colder as we neared the center. I was shivering as we stepped through another set of large doors. I could see my breath and my fingers were going numb. I need a pair of gloves, maybe a scarf. Adrasta seemed to be just as cold as I was. She didn't have any sleeves after all. I could see the goose bumps on her pale arms and hear her teeth chattering away in her head. We walked around the wall, that was randomly placed in the center of the room, on different sides. We both came around at the same time though and both looked at what was hanging on the wall. I gasped and dropped the flare I had in my hand.

"No!"

I ran over and started pulling at the black sinewy material that was holding him in place. I felt an arm pulling me away.

"Leave me alone! I have to get him down!"

"He's dead."

I fell to my knees and started wailing hopelessly. It took me a while to be able to look up at his face again. Adrasta was right, he was and had been dead for a long time now. The hole in his chest was an obvious clue. I felt Adrasta's hand on my shoulder again, only this time it was there to try and comfort me. What the hell had transpired that caused him to end up here and get himself impregnated by a god damn face hugger?

"Ya'uta."

I twitched when I heard her speak his name. How did she know? She raised her hand to touch him, but I wasn't going to allow that. I grabbed her hand and gently pushed it away from him.

"I'll handle this. Wait for me back at the ship."

She shrugged and walked off humming some weird tune.

After burying Ya'uta's body I returned to the ship and sat down on the chair. I sighed and rested my head in my hands. I cried quietly for a few more minutes. It's so strange that I was brought here to see that. Fate is a cruel bitch.

Just before I powered up my ship I realized that Adrasta wasn't even on it. I jumped up and dashed out of the ship when I heard a yelp. My eyes and my brain were at odds about what was actually going on. I saw Adrasta scrambling up a tree as fast as she could, but why? What was that monster that was chasing her? Why am I just standing here?

I ran over and grabbed for the tail of the monster. I'm really bad at that apparently. Again I missed. It leapt at Adrasta and caught her in mid air. They both fell out of the tree and hit the ground. Adrasta was on the creatures chest for a moment and flailing around wildly. I saw her slice the monsters face open with her knife and as she kicked at it, the spikes on the bottoms of her boots dug in deep and nearly gutted it. It roared ferociously and flung her into the tree. I grimaced when her head hit the tree. She seemed down for the count. I hope she doesn't get a blood clot or something.

The monster was about to go after her again when I valiantly charged it and hit its side with my entire body. My momentum sent it tumbling head over feet and I heard a crack as it landed on its neck. Take that. Adrasta was already moving about. She grabbed her head and groaned slightly.

"Adrasta! Are you ok?"

She blinked a few times and nodded. Her eyes got really wide and I heard a growl behind me. The monster was moving again. No way. Its god damned neck snapped, how the hell is that thing still alive? It was very focused on me. It was the weirdest thing I had seen. It was like a kiande amedha, but larger. . .and . . .it had. . .mandibles. It's part Yautja. It took a few steps closer and growled. Does this creature possess any of Ya'uta's memories? Does he actually recognize me or is he just being cautious? I thought I saw a hint of recognition in his eyes and a flicker of reasoning before the eyes turned cold and murderous again as instinct took over.

He charged me just then and met with Adrasta's knife. She had hopped in front of me and stuck her arm straight up just in time to catch him in the throat. She pulled it out and took him down while he was distracted. She stabbed him over and over again. I was almost horrified, but at the same time it was kill or be killed in this world. So Beleth did teach her a thing or two. I wonder why she hadn't let me know until now.

She was wiping the blood off her knife and I realized that it wasn't burning her clothes or her at all. I took a few steps forward and was going to touch the corpse, but she stopped me.

"We need to leave."

I heard rustling in the trees and bushes all around us. The other hard meats were coming. Adrasta and I double timed it onto the ship and I slammed my hand down on the button that secured the door. I powered up and we broke atmo a few moments later.

There was no way I was going to get my mind off of what had just happened. That second when I thought I saw Ya'uta inside that thing. If a Yautja's genetic makeup can cause a hard meat to mutate like that, then could the hard meat maybe have a sense of where it came from? I was going to voice this to Adrasta and see what she thought about it, but she was asleep. I looked at Sponge Guy and pat him a few times.

"I guess I'll never know, huh?"

He chortled at me and I followed Adrasta's example.


	17. Take That

My dreams were tortured as was expected. So many times I had woken up after failing to save Ya'uta, or I would wake up right as that mutant burst from his chest. Adrasta looked at me and for once her eyes weren't blank, but filled with concern. I must look absolutely psychotic right now rocking back and forth with my eyes wide open. I stopped mouthing nonsensical words and looked at her.

"Are you all right?"

"I don't think so."

"I had to kill him. He wasn't really Ya'uta. Only a figment. It was there to confuse you."

"Confuse me?"

"So you wouldn't attack."

"I see."

I chewed on my thumb for a moment.

"So I did see Ya'uta in there for a split second. I wasn't imagining it."

She nodded. That doesn't make me feel better at all. The fact that he was reduced to just a figment in the end made me feel worse, in fact. He deserved a lot better than that for putting up with me for as long as he did. It would have been longer if we hadn't nearly killed each other. Wouldn't it just be peachy if I had never gained my memory back?

I wish I could go back and change everything. I wouldn't have even gone after Ya'uta when we were on Earth. I would have stayed away from him so he would have never lost his honor, would have never been nearly killed by me. Thinking back though, he was stalking me. He wanted to fight me, I just refused to do it until it was a very bad time. If he had gotten his way, we would have battled for as long as necessary and then he could have set off his little handy dandy self destruct and KABOOM we would have went.

I pressed my palms into my eyes and held back a few tears that were just dying to come out. I didn't feel like crying. We were getting near the end of our journey.

I never realized how much could happen in a week. As creepy as she was and for how awkward it had been most times, I would miss something about Adrasta. Perhaps it was the fact that she seemed to have an awareness about everything that most every other creature lacked. Or it could be that she was with me during a very traumatic experience or two and had saved my life We were nearing Orpheous. It would only be another half day. As much as I didn't think I could, I should try to get some sleep before having to drag Adrasta to the settlement. I'm pretty sure she isn't going to want to go, and will not go easy. I heard Adrasta humming something just before I fell asleep.

I was in the middle of a large room hovering in mid air. The chamber was lit by torches with green flames. There were blurred faces surrounding me, there were 7 of them and they were speaking to me.

"Lena, open yourself to us. Let us in."

"We are a part of you."

"Embrace us."

"Embrace us and you could be unstoppable."

"Where. . .am I? What's going on?"

"Don't fear us."

"Yes, take us in."

"Use us."

The faces started spinning around me, slowly at first, and then picking up speed with every rotation. Eventually they were all just a blur and I felt a chill start in the pit of my stomach and then spread to the rest of me. The faces were now diving through me like I was an apparition. I couldn't move and couldn't speak anymore. The faces stopped going through my middle and began to fade. Just before the entire place faded out I heard one last sentence.

"Time itself will be yours to command."

There was, of course, no time for me to recount that dream and try to sort it out. I woke into a state of panic. My ship was screeching horribly and the lights were blinking on and off. The sirens were going off. This was definitely my ship being broken.

"Don't do this to me."

"Memories. . ."

"Not now Adrasta!"

This was definitely not a good time to be ironical. In just a few minutes we were going to be splattered on Orpheous as opposed to landing. I was slightly mesmerized by how fast the ground was getting closer and the rocks and trees getting bigger. I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my jaw.

"No!"

I only had the intention of blinking, but when my eyes opened again I was lying on a bed in a strange, but familiar place. This room. . .Holy shit! This used to be my room. I'm in my old apartment on. . .

"Earth. You've got to be kidding me!"

I jumped up and ran over to my mirror. I was still wearing the cloak I stole from Lord. I stripped my clothes off quickly and looked at my back. The black marks were still there from all the time I had been whipped. That doesn't make any sense being that all those things happened after I left Earth and after it was destroyed.

My dream came back to grab me in a headlock. Time. . .I can control time? I looked at my hands for a moment. How did that happen? As I put my shirt and cloak back on, I thought of that day in the temple when Fahu had died. He was the sacrifice to a statue. The statue had then supposedly imbued me with powers. And hadn't that weird trinket Borgos wanted been an hourglass? It's all so clear to me now. Time itself is indeed at my command apparently. I brought myself back here.

I heard a chortle to my right and turned my head. I was happy and relieved to see Sponge Guy on my dresser. I walked over and gave him a pat.

"This is really weird Sponge Guy."

I heard a weird noise in my living room and my blood ran cold. I picked up Sponge Guy and opened my bedroom door to go investigate. Of course, if it was a robber, he's going to get a nasty surprise when I don't go quietly. As I left the safety of the hallway and looked into my living room I was stunned into inaction.


	18. We Gone

_And here we are at the conclusion of another exciting story. I will be posting the first chapter of the third story in this series right after I finish writing this._

_Expect some interesting twists and turns._

_So hang on tightly to that proverbial cliff I have you at, and don't worry, it doesn't end here!_

_**Nikto**_


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